What makes this dance recognizable? What is typical, distinctive or characteristic?

The measure is as simple and clear as in the disco, but now the pairs step and turn in closed dance position around the floor in a kind of simple ballroom style. In the lowlands popular on carnival music.

Examples

Beer barrel polka / Rosamunde - Will Glahé, André Rieu, Bobby Vinton..

Una paloma blanca - Georges Baker Selection

Ramaya - Afric Simone

BPM:

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It would not surprise me if the name just comes from the word marching.
Through the French marche, from marcher it has the Gallo-Roman roots in the Latin marcus 'hammer' where marcare ‘hammering ', even means 'in cadence walking of soldiers".
(The word for the month march drives –like the planet- of a god Mars.)

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At balls and parties nowadays are played happy, carnival -like marches into measure four, on which is stepped merrily around the floor and around each other. Often carnival music.

Dance schools have rarely a course version of this dance.

But there are also more classic, often military (step) marches:

It is a composition that simultaneously marching of a group should promote. One knows beside the party-, also military and funeral march (Marcia Funebre).
A march is always in a binary or two-part signature, and thus has a clearly to follow strict cadence that is very recognizable.

Marches are performed by brass bands and other brass music corps.

A march is a musical genre that ceremonial is use, especially in military circles.

At parade and festival marches is the key usually major to obtain an obviously gay melody. Usually there is a clear theme and secondary theme available allowing each march to get its own character. This is reinforced by repeating the first theme in an ABA structure. This type march is usually in celebrations stepped with smooth pace, so each step on one count. The metronome rate is usually fixed. In most of the ceremony books is a value of 120 to 140 BPM kept.

However, death marches are usually minor, and have obviously much slower pace. Often this type of marches is walked in half with solemn pace, so on two count only 1 step.
 

In military circles marches are mainly used to give a cadence. Previously there were only horns and trumpets and limited percussion to give military signals.
In the 19th century civil circles marches were used on fashionable parties and balls to create a solemn military sphere in addition to the cheerful atmosphere of the waltz and the polka. Especially the Strauss family is very well known for its marches.

There are also Catholic procession marches for church use. The march was to emphasize the solemn here. Catholic processions were often accompanied by music. This is notably the case in the Semana Santa (Holy Week). The music is a prominent part of the procession.

Known marches

Radetzky March, Op.228 (1848) by Johann Strauss I, written in honor of the Austrian general Joseph Radetzky, who had defeated Italian rebels in Custoza.

Yorckscher Marsch, Ludwig van Beethoven

Klar zum Gefecht, Abschied der Gladiators, Hermann Ludwig Blankenburg

Grand March from Aida, by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

March from the Nutcracker Suite, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

The Washington Post, by John Sousa (1854-1932)

The Stars And Stripes Forever, by John Philip Sousa

Einzug der Gladiatoren, Julius Fucik by (1872-1916)

Heralds Mars, by Johan Wichers

Glück auf, Johan Wichers

Hussars Mars, by Henry Charles (1850-1927)