A mixer dance, dance mixer or simply mixer is a kind of participation dance

Participation dance

Participation dance, also known as group-participation dance or audience participation dance, is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles based on purpose. The purpose of this type of dance is to actively encourage dancing in a group...

 in a social dance

Social dance

Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...

 setting that involves changing partners as an integral part. Mixing can be built into the dance choreography or can be structured to occur more randomly. Mixers allow dancers to meet new partners and allow beginners to dance with more advanced dancers. Some people may take advantage of mixers to assess dance skills of other persons without fear of being stuck with a poor match for an entire dance.

Some mixer dances have traditional names.

The descriptions of "mixing procedures" vary, however there are several common basic rules.

• The basic rule of dance etiquette
  Dance etiquette
  Dance etiquette are the conventional rules which govern the social behavior of dance by its participants. Such rules include the way in which the participants should look and the way in which they approach, dance with and leave their partner...
  
   "thou shalt never say 'no'" is partially waived during certain procedures of the mixer: if you have already danced with the person, you may smile to each other and skip the choice. The reasoning is that the basic purpose of the mixer — to make people dance with many new partners — has the precedence.
• Sometimes a "lost and found" place is designated (e.g., the centre of the dance circle), where unmatched dancers may find each other. Reasons for the occurrence of "unmatched dancers" include the mixing process inherent in the particular dance, gender imbalance, and dancer confusion.

General mixers

• A couple dances straight across the dance hall until they reach the opposite end. They separate, men and ladies each walking along opposite walls to the start end of the hall where they meet their next partners. The randomness in partner matching arises from the different speed of travel and often different numbers of men and ladies.
• A couple dances a full round around the room and exchanges partners with these at the start point. Matching randomness is from the speed differences as well as from some chaos introduced at the start point.
• Couples dance until the music stops, then all couples say goodbye to each other and grab next best partner who happens to be close by (Sometimes the slow ones have to run across the room to meet a spare partner).
• Couples dance until the music stops. Then they separate and form two concentric "segregated" circles of men and ladies. As "mixing music" starts (something different from the dance danced), the circles walk in opposite directions until the mixing music stops. New partners are those who happen to stand opposite each other at this moment. If there is a disproportion between genders, the "unlucky" ones are encouraged to go and grab someone sitting or standing along the walls.
• The same as above, only during the "mixing music" the dancers instead of walking do some simple kind of round dance
  Round dance
  There are two distinct dance categories called round dance. The specific dances belonging to the first of these categories are often considered to be ethnic, folk or country dances...
  
   with frequent exchange of partners.
• A funny version of the above (observed during a folk Polka
  Polka
  The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
  
   mixer in Lithuania
  Lithuania
  Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
  
  ): After some dancing the caller
  Caller (dancing)
  A caller is a person who prompts dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance this is rare....
  
   calls: "Guys inside (the circle), gals outside. Gals continue dancing, guys groom themselves." Then the caller
  Caller (dancing)
  A caller is a person who prompts dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance this is rare....
  
   calls "Guys, grab yourselves a pair". Then he calls: "Now gals inside, guys outside." (A pause of suspense...) "Gals continue dancing, guys groom themselves." (The joke is in the broken expectation: since in the second call "guys are outside", it would be expected for guys to dance and girls to groom themselves.)

Named mixers

• Paul Jones is the name used for a number of mixer dances that were popular in the first quarter of the 20th century but continue to be used in traditional dance settings to the present day. One common variation is as follows. At the signal of the caller
  Caller (dancing)
  A caller is a person who prompts dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance this is rare....
  
   (who may also be called by other names, such as "prompter", "cuer", or "Master of Ceremonies
  Master of Ceremonies
  A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
  
  "), all dancers join their hands to form a circle (or several concentric ones, if crowded), with ladies being to the right of their partners. At the second signal of the caller
  Caller (dancing)
  A caller is a person who prompts dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance this is rare....
  
  , the dancers repeatedly do the Grand Right and Left move, well-known in square dancing. As a result, the ladies move to the left (clockwise) along the circle, while gentlemen move to the right. At the third signal, dancers dance with the partner whose hand they are holding at the moment. This "third signal" is traditionally the shouted words "Paul Jones", but a whistle or other device can be substituted. This procedure may be repeated "as the master deems it advisable".
• The Family Waltz is a dance mixer known in Scandinavia
  Scandinavia
  Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
  
  n countries variously as Familjevalsen, Familie Vals, Familievals, etc. It is danced to the music of waltz
  Waltz
  The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
  
  . Basically, all dancers form a circle with hands joined, each gentleman does the balance with the lady to his left (called his "corner"), then with the lady to the right, then repeats the two balances then dances two tours of waltz (4 measures of music) with his corner and at the end passes the corner to his right (so that each gentleman now has a new corner). This may continue until the music ends or until a signal (e.g., when the caller
  Caller (dancing)
  A caller is a person who prompts dance figures in such dances as line dance, square dance, and contra dance. The caller might be one of the participating dancers, though in modern country dance this is rare....
  
  notices that ladies passed the complete circle)