The style has changed enormously during the passage across the Atlantic and back. Every dance is explained first. While you dance the caller will keep calling until people have the idea and will then shut up and let you dance. Normally people change partners after each dance, so you end up dancing with lots of different people. And we use live music, to keep the excitement up.
Dances start in two long lines, usually everyone facing their partner.
Each couple interacts with another couple, forming tight patterns, often with all the dancers moving at the same time. Each time through the figures of the dance the couples change places, moving up or down the line to dance with a different couple. So you get to dance with lots of different people as well as your partner. The emphasis is on giving weight, so that you and another dancer lean on each other as you turn, swing, circle, star, etc. Improvising is half the fun.