Thanks for refreshing this interesting thread. I wasn't around here when it started.
Was your 'quick dance' the jive? Or is that the same as the jitterbug? I remember jiving coming in (mid 50s) and it was thought to be 'not proper dancing'. Or maybe it was the quickstep.
I asked my husband about Knees up Mother Brown recently, he used to go to a class that taught ballroom dancing and had a 'dance' after the lesson. He says that it was just joining hands in a ring and going in and out lifting your knees high on each step.That fits my vague youthful memories from church socials in the late 40s, early 50s(can't remember if they were called socials or just parties). We also did the Hokey Cokey.I used to teach that at Playgroup (3 - 5 year olds) and I occasionally finish a barn dance with it if the crowd seems right. My daughter thought it appropriate for the barn dance that celebrated her wedding.
My husband complains that I do it wrong, my version has a chorus where you join hands and rush into the middle singing -
Oh the hokey cokey
Oh the hokey cokey
Oh the hokey cokey
Knees bend, arms strerch Ra ra ra

his version Oh kiss me in the middle.