gender neutral calling comes with its own problems, but young people would cope with it better.

I find having to translate Lark and Raven (ie) quite a slowdown and I may know the dance anyway!

If there is an imbalance in genders avoid suggesting waltz hold. Cross hand hold works for same gender partners. Gay Gordons/Chapelloise have a similar asymmetric hold.

Have you considered the Breton farandol (snake) style dances? Andro (a bit more tricky) and Hanter Dro link left arm under, right over, choosing the right music is the difficult part. Wot I calls dancing to go to sleep by.

And there is a Swedish farandol style dance that just requires the right music, and lope along in a limp then the leader (you) get two to raise their arms and you thread the needle. you can thread as many needles as you want. It is a silly dance but I defy anyone to remain po faced.
come to think about it, any music and snake walking in time would be an English farandol. Needle threading, mandatory!

I would recommend using it early on to get people buzzing. Teaching it? NO! Tell them to hold hands in a snake and pull from the front.

And the Slang Polska (Swedish) couldn't be simpler. The way it was taught to me was two people walk around each other (in time to the music) but it is who takes the lead, which will change at will, and which direction, putting in a few twirls. It is the interplay and tussle for leadership and changes willy nilly that makes it fun. As a dance it is so simple. this Youtube video. is the more advanced version but you get the idea. The structure is free form. No holding hands, so gender neutral. Music choice best as Swedishish.

Maybe showing the right video would help to demonstrate. At English Ceilidh often you see a demonstration set. Video is an alternative.