I also enjoy social dance, and I think what makes it for me is
1. The interaction with other people in the set (friendly or flirting, or adapting to the limitations of other dancers)
2. The music and fitting the dance to it (it surprises me when people rush ahead of the music)
3. the interest of the figures (some flow well together, some are a challenge, some dances have a distinctive figure that means you remember them)
4. the movement (I'm not much good at fancy steps, which is why I'm not a clog dancer).

I can see an attraction in polishing a dance to performance level, but it's not what it's all about for me, so I won't get involved in that.