Liscio or ballo liscio ("smooth" or "smooth dance" respectively in Italian) is a genre of music originating in the 19th century in the northern

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region of

Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to t ...

under the influence of Viennese ballroom dances including the

mazurka The mazurka (Polish: ''mazur'' Polish ball dance, one of the five Polish national dances and ''mazurek'' Polish folk dance') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character de ...

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...

schottische The schottische is a partnered country dance that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina ("chotis"Span ...

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

. It later became popular and spread to the rest of the country. The

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, which was also a 19th-century invention, features prominently. The tradition contrasts with older

Italian folk dance Italian folk dance has been an integral part of Italian culture for centuries. Dance has been a continuous thread in Italian life from Dante through the Renaissance, the advent of the '' tarantella'' in Southern Italy, and the modern revivals of ...

s in which the

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

was the primary instrument.

Ballo liscio in Romagna

, the phenomenon of the public and popular dance called "liscio" has created a unique universe and it has revolutionised the approaches to social, community and festive contexts, because it managed to blend different social strata and to allow a broad and inclusive identification process for higher but also more humble social classes. Nowadays, this universe is home to many different protagonists: it gives employment to a huge number of musicians, singers, dancers, dance halls, record companies and media (TV, radio, local magazines). They form part of a rich cultural industry, held together by a powerful territorial and traditional binding force which is typical of Romagna's folklore. In its essence, "liscio" is a combination of music and dance: its style is easily recognisable because it is rousing, with a cadenced rhythmic style and full of technical virtuosities. Nowadays, even if liscio performances have decreased in favour of more contaminated and mixed songs, many music bands maintain this genre in their musical repertoire. This tradition of Romagna, besides being a varied enterprise, is a fundamental tool for the valorisation of the immaterial cultural heritage of the territory.

Ballo liscio in California

immigrants to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

brought the liscio tradition to California in the early 1900s. Central to the California tradition are

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, sometimes supplemented by

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

. The ballroom music of Italian immigrants underwent a strong Latin American influence by the 1950s. The repertoire of California ballo liscio musicians is diverse, including uniquely Italian dances like the

tarantella () is a group of various southern Italian folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania and Puglia. It is characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in time (sometimes or ), accompanied by tambourines. It is among the mo ...

; pan-European round dance forms; the American

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

; the Spanish

jota Jota may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Iota (Ι, ι), the name of the 9th letter in the Greek alphabet; * (figuratively) ''Something very small'', based on the fact that the letter Iota (lat. i) is the smallest character in the alphabet; * The name of the ...

and

paso doble Pasodoble (Spanish language, Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This military ...

; the Latin American rhumba; and the Caribbean

beguine The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take forma ...

. Several bands continue to play ballo liscio repertoire in California, including the bands Zighi Baci & Mazurka Madness which both play regularly at

Caffe Trieste Caffè Trieste is an internationally known coffeehouse, retail store, and former franchise in San Francisco. The original cafe, opened in 1956, was the first espresso-based coffeehouse on the West Coast of the United States. Caffe Trieste is co ...

in North Beach, Caffe Acustico, Paul & Emily, the Hot Frittatas, the Graventsein Mandolin Ensemble, and Gus Garelick.

References

{{reflist

External links

Tenebre Infinite (L. Andrini), mandolin/guitar, Italian ballo liscio dance tune
:Italian music :Music of California :Music of the San Francisco Bay Area Italian folk dances Ballroom dance Culture in Emilia-Romagna

Ballo liscio in Romagna

Ballo liscio in California

See also

References

External links