I would agree--giving a place to smoother, calmer, and inequal dances that give people time to interact, chat, make eye contact, etc, instead of forcing a rapidity of constant interaction. It's not so much a matter of music speed as choreographic selection.
He was also known to occasionally use patter when calling contras and quadrilles. Apparently the tradition historically existed in New England, but was much less pronounced than elsewhere and has since virtually vanished.
I forget the source from which I got that tidbit, but it very possibly was Time to Dance by Richard Neville. Or it could have been a letter in the Lloyd Shaw Foundation Archive collection. Not sure.
Neal