A British institution since 1920, the Blackpool dance festival this week decamped to Shanghai, bringing its sequinned glitz to China’s commercial hub as it pursues the country’s ballroom¹ dancing market.

英国一项历史悠久的赛事“黑池舞蹈节”(Blackpool dance festival)本周易地上海举办，把其耀眼的光芒带到了中国的商业中心。黑池舞蹈节创立于1920年，目前正努力进军中国国标舞市场。

“China is an emerging nation in ballroom dancing without a doubt. It’s a billion-dollar business,” said Michael Williams, managing director of Blackpool Entertainment, which operates the festival. “Given those numbers it seemed appropriate to come here”.

该舞蹈节运营方“黑池娱乐”(Blackpool Entertainment)的董事总经理迈克尔?威廉姆斯(Michael Williams)表示：“中国是一个正在崛起的国标舞市场，这点毋庸置疑。其商业价值达数十亿美元。考虑到这些数字，来这里似乎是正确的。”

From its origins in interwar Britain, the festival held annually² in Blackpool’s rococo-style Empress Ballroom now attracts entrants from dozens of countries. Ballroom dance is popular throughout east Asia, and last year the Blackpool event saw more entrants from China than any other country.

黑池舞蹈节起源于两次大战之间的英国，每年在黑池（Blackpool，又译为布莱克浦）洛可可风格的皇后舞厅(Empress Ballroom)举办，如今有数十个国家的选手参赛。国标舞在整个东亚都很流行，去年黑池大赛上中国选手的数量超过其他任何一个国家。

The Shanghai event — the second held in China — saw contestants³ foxtrot, cha-cha and rumba in a suburban⁴ sports stadium normally used for basketball practice, with the addition of a proscenium arch and orchestra stage.

此次上海大赛是第二次在中国举办这一赛事，选手们在上海郊区一座通常用于篮球训练的体育场馆比赛狐步、恰恰恰和伦巴，该体育场馆增设了一个舞台口加乐池。

“The elements that we have brought are the Empress orchestra — it’s exactly the same set-up and music that we have in Blackpool,” Mr Williams added.

威廉姆斯补充说：“我们将皇后管弦乐队这一黑池元素带过来了，安排和乐曲与我们在黑池的完全一样。”

China’s tech giant Alibaba live-streamed the Shanghai event online and is investing more than Rmb10m ($1.5m) a year “to promote the Blackpool brand in China”, said Will Wei, vice-president of the company’s subsidiary Alisports.

中国科技业巨头阿里巴巴(Alibaba)在网上直播了此次上海大赛。阿里巴巴子公司阿里体育(Alisports)副总裁魏全民(Will Wei)表示，阿里巴巴每年将投入逾1000万元人民币（合150万美元）“在中国推广黑池品牌”。

He estimated that there were up to 80m ballroom dancers in China, with more than 100,000 at a competitive level. “Facing such a large market, Alisports will continue to attract the best intellectual property from around the world.”

他估计中国有多达8000万名国标舞者，逾10万人达到参赛水平。“面对如此庞大的市场，阿里体育将继续吸引来自世界各地的最优质IP。”

Alibaba’s involvement highlights a trend of Chinese companies looking to bring foreign sporting competitions to China, typified by real estate⁵ conglomerate⁶ Wanda’s 2015 purchase of the Ironman triathlon event for $650m.

阿里巴巴的参与突显出中国企业希望将外国体育赛事引进中国的趋势，地产集团万达(Wanda) 2015年以6.5亿美元收购铁人三项赛就是典型的例子。

Chinese companies have also been competing over live-streaming rights, with tech company Tencent announcing a deal with the NFL American football league this week. “More work with Alibaba will help massively with the marketing⁷ and publicity⁸. The Blackpool brand appealed to them,” said the festival’s Mr Williams.

中国企业还在争夺直播权，科技公司腾讯(Tencent)本周宣布与美国国家橄榄球联盟(NFL)达成交易。威廉姆斯表示：“与阿里巴巴加强合作将大大有助于营销和宣传。黑池品牌对他们有吸引力。”

Blackpool attracts 15m tourists a year but only a “small fraction” are Chinese, said Barrie Thompson of the China UK Business Centre North West. He said the city was seeking more Chinese investment. “It’s a tsunami⁹ coming and we want to channel it in the right direction”.

中英商务中心(China UK Business Centre North West)的巴里?汤普森(Barrie Thompson)表示，英国黑池每年吸引1500万游客，但只有“一小部分”是中国人。他说这座城市正在寻求更多的中国投资：“一场海啸即将来临，我们希望把它导向正确的方向。”

Backstage, where competitors from China, the US and Russia limbered up, some complained about the smaller scale of the Chinese competition. “The atmosphere is not quite the same as in Blackpool, there are not enough foreign competitors,” said Latin dance specialist Jason Jiao, 26.

在后台，来自中国、美国和俄罗斯的选手做着热身活动，有些人抱怨中国赛规模较小。26岁的拉丁舞蹈专家Jason Jiao说：“这里的气氛跟黑池不太一样，外国选手不够多。”

Alisports said 2,800 dancers from 25 countries competed, but the event was sparsely¹⁰ attended, with most seats empty and touts¹¹ struggling to shift tickets outside the stadium.

阿里体育表示有来自25个国家的2800名舞蹈家参赛，但观众寥寥无几，大部分座位都空荡荡的，票贩子在场馆外也很难出手门票。

“Shanghai Blackpool just started so it’s not very well promoted,” said Beijing-based ballroom enthusiast¹² Andrew Gao, adding: “It’s new to China, but it will be one of the biggest competitions.”

北京国标舞爱好者Andrew Gao表示：“上海黑池才刚刚起步，所以推广做得不是太好。这对中国来说是个新鲜事物，但它会成为最大的赛事之一。”