英國(guó)“黑池舞蹈節(jié)”登陸中國(guó)

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 ballroom dancing market.

英國(guó)一項(xiàng)歷史悠久的賽事“黑池舞蹈節(jié)”(Blackpool dance festival)本周易地上海舉辦，把其耀眼的光芒帶到了中國(guó)的商業(yè)中心。黑池舞蹈節(jié)創(chuàng)立于1920年，目前正努力進(jìn)軍中國(guó)國(guó)標(biāo)舞市場(chǎng)。

“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”.

該舞蹈節(jié)運(yùn)營(yíng)方“黑池娛樂(lè)”(Blackpool Entertainment)的董事總經(jīng)理邁克爾•威廉姆斯(Michael Williams)表示：“中國(guó)是一個(gè)正在崛起的國(guó)標(biāo)舞市場(chǎng)，這點(diǎn)毋庸置疑。其商業(yè)價(jià)值達(dá)數(shù)十億美元。考慮到這些數(shù)字，來(lái)這里似乎是正確的。”

From its origins in interwar Britain, the festival held annually 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.

黑池舞蹈節(jié)起源于兩次大戰(zhàn)之間的英國(guó)，每年在黑池(Blackpool，又譯為布萊克浦)洛可可風(fēng)格的皇后舞廳(Empress Ballroom)舉辦，如今有數(shù)十個(gè)國(guó)家的選手參賽。國(guó)標(biāo)舞在整個(gè)東亞都很流行，去年黑池大賽上中國(guó)選手的數(shù)量超過(guò)其他任何一個(gè)國(guó)家。

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

此次上海大賽是第二次在中國(guó)舉辦這一賽事，選手們?cè)谏虾＝紖^(qū)一座通常用于籃球訓(xùn)練的體育場(chǎng)館比賽狐步、恰恰恰和倫巴，該體育場(chǎng)館增設(shè)了一個(gè)舞臺(tái)口加樂(lè)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.

威廉姆斯補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“我們將皇后管弦樂(lè)隊(duì)這一黑池元素帶過(guò)來(lái)了，安排和樂(lè)曲與我們?cè)诤诔氐耐耆粯印?rdquo;

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.

中國(guó)科技業(yè)巨頭阿里巴巴(Alibaba)在網(wǎng)上直播了此次上海大賽。阿里巴巴子公司阿里體育(Alisports)副總裁魏全民(Will Wei)表示，阿里巴巴每年將投入逾1000萬(wàn)元人民幣(合150萬(wàn)美元)“在中國(guó)推廣黑池品牌”。

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.”

他估計(jì)中國(guó)有多達(dá)8000萬(wàn)名國(guó)標(biāo)舞者，逾10萬(wàn)人達(dá)到參賽水平。“面對(duì)如此龐大的市場(chǎng)，阿里體育將繼續(xù)吸引來(lái)自世界各地的最優(yōu)質(zhì)IP。”

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

阿里巴巴的參與突顯出中國(guó)企業(yè)希望將外國(guó)體育賽事引進(jìn)中國(guó)的趨勢(shì)，地產(chǎn)集團(tuán)萬(wàn)達(dá)(Wanda) 2015年以6.5億美元收購(gòu)鐵人三項(xiàng)賽就是典型的例子。

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 marketing and publicity. The Blackpool brand appealed to them,” said the festival’s Mr Williams.

中國(guó)企業(yè)還在爭(zhēng)奪直播權(quán)，科技公司騰訊(Tencent)本周宣布與美國(guó)國(guó)家橄欖球聯(lián)盟(NFL)達(dá)成交易。威廉姆斯表示：“與阿里巴巴加強(qiáng)合作將大大有助于營(yíng)銷和宣傳。黑池品牌對(duì)他們有吸引力。”

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 tsunami coming and we want to channel it in the right direction”.

中英商務(wù)中心(China UK Business Centre North West)的巴里•湯普森(Barrie Thompson)表示，英國(guó)黑池每年吸引1500萬(wàn)游客，但只有“一小部分”是中國(guó)人。他說(shuō)這座城市正在尋求更多的中國(guó)投資：“一場(chǎng)海嘯即將來(lái)臨，我們希望把它導(dǎo)向正確的方向。”

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.

在后臺(tái)，來(lái)自中國(guó)、美國(guó)和俄羅斯的選手做著熱身活動(dòng)，有些人抱怨中國(guó)賽規(guī)模較小。26歲的拉丁舞蹈專家Jason Jiao說(shuō)：“這里的氣氛跟黑池不太一樣，外國(guó)選手不夠多。”

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

阿里體育表示有來(lái)自25個(gè)國(guó)家的2800名舞蹈家參賽，但觀眾寥寥無(wú)幾，大部分座位都空蕩蕩的，票販子在場(chǎng)館外也很難出手門票。

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

北京國(guó)標(biāo)舞愛好者Andrew Gao表示：“上海黑池才剛剛起步，所以推廣做得不是太好。這對(duì)中國(guó)來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)新鮮事物，但它會(huì)成為最大的賽事之一。”

Twitter: @hancocktom 譯者/何黎