This might be a little stretch, but due to a conversation with a colleague about "what makes a good program", i've given a bit of thought lately to the question of integrating newcomers vis-a-vis the (common?) programming model that suggests a caller should focus more on neighbor interaction early on, with partner-heavy dances later in the evening. In the theoretical stages right now, but here goes...
Some dance organizations/communities (applause!!) have been quite successful in creating a culture where experienced dancers identify themselves in some way and/or actively seek out newbies with whom to partner, at least early in the evening. In such a situation, it strikes me that choosing choreography which emphasizes neighbor interaction may undercut these dancers' efforts; when experienced dancers have successfully partnered with newbies, using the choreography to help them teach by emphasizing partner interaction - in swings, california twirl, promenade across, R&L through, hey, et cetera - might be a way for the caller to amplify the efforts of a proactively integrative dance culture. (Perhaps arcing from partner emphasis at the start, to neighbor emphasis as newbies become more integrated, and back to partner towards the end?) As was said, announcing a mixer well in advance would also ensure that proactive dancers aren't being undercut by caller choices. On the flip side, dance communities/cultures that tend to be cliquey are often also less open to mixers. In this situation i would think emphasizing neighbor interaction to be very important, and if a mixer was viable (eg not too much a threat to the caller's social capital), i would tend to "spring" it on the dancers so as to confound cliquey dancers' partnering practices. The bottom line emerging for me is that programming choices should work in concert with what's happening on the floor - amplifying the efforts of proactive dancers, confounding cliquishness when possible - and to some extent rely on substantial knowledge or observation of the dancers' partnering behaviors - but these are just half-formed thoughts...
