Last summer El Paso, Texas got a foreign influence it won't forget. Twenty-five folk performers and musicians from villages around Genoa and Naples staged shows in El Paso and Juarez for two days. The group, representing the ancient folkways still practiced in remote northern and southern parts of Italy, stopped in El Paso as part of the On Tour program of the Smithsonian's Festival of American Folklife.

Folk performers from seven other foreign countries participated on such tours in 1975. Such appearances serve the dual purpose of improving our cultural ties with other nations and, perhaps more important, displaying to Americans the customs that time and modern change have not altered.

Most El Pasoans who attended the performances agreed that the Italians were the most spontaneous and eager performers to be billed in town for a long time. During lunch one afternoon in a Juarez restaurant, someone whispered that it would be nice to see the group do a short number. Before the waiters could clear the tables, the Italians had cordoned off a circle and had begun singing and dancing with gusto.