Three perspectives for the Study of Hybridization in the Italian Tango

Abstract

As a result of my research into the phenomenon of the acceptance of the Argentine tango in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century, I discovered that a local type of tango has developed all over the country. Today it’s called tango liscio, which means “flat”. The name liscio comprises four couple dances: waltz, polka, mazurka and tango. The tango liscio derives from the Rioplatense tango, that was imported from Paris into Italy just before the Great War2. Nowadays the liscio is very different from the original tango; even if the presence of the Rioplatense genre has begun to increase again in the last fifteen years, it is a minority urban movement, whereas the liscio is very well known in provincial towns and villages all over the country.