Drive away partner, initially, during folk dance (5)
I believe the answer is:
repel
'drive away' is the definition.
(to repel is to drive away)
'partner initially during folk dance' is the wordplay.
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'during' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'folk dance' becomes 'reel' (reel is a kind of folk dance).
The initial letter of 'partner' is 'p'.
'p' going within 'reel' is 'REPEL'.
(Other definitions for repel that I've seen before include "Be effective in controlling" , "Drive back or disgust" , "Spurn" , "Drive back or away" , "may turn your stomach" .)