Blackpool in China

Posted on May 26, 2015

Blackpool Dance Festival is to launch its first overseas event, to be held in Shanghai from August 19 to 23, 2016. Working with International Special Attractions (ISA), the British festival will work on the organisation, branding and management of the event, held under the name Blackpool Dance Festival (China).

The new festival will initially take place over three to five days, with plans to expand. Competitors will be able to compete in a full range of ballroom and Latin disciplines. Over the past 20 years, ballroom dancing has boomed in China, forming part of its government’s healthy lifestyle drive. More than 50 million people are now registered as ballroom dancers with official Chinese organisations.

Michael Williams, managing director of the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, said, “Over the past few years we have seen an influx of Chinese dancers competing in Blackpool and for us to take elements of our festival to China can only increase the number of dancers that will want to come and experience the magic of dancing in the magnificent Empress Ballroom.”

Entries and ticket applications for the Blackpool Dance Festival (China) will open on July 15, 2015. Email info@blackpooldancefestival.com for more.

Picture: Chao Yang and Yiling Tan

Photograph: Ron Self

Nicola Rayner

Nicola Rayner was editor of Dance Today from 2010 to 2015. She has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out Buenos Aires, where she cut her teeth as a dance journalist working on the tango section. Today she continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of success. Her debut novel, The Girl Before You, is out in May 2019.