From a distance, Matt McGovern of Ludlow, Mass., looks and sounds about twice his age. He wears a crisp navy polo and flashy gold necklaces that clink just a little when he moves around the stage. Standing with a microphone in hand, his voice is a commanding presence in the dance hall. He calls the moves rapid-fire and sings along with the music.

But closer up and offstage, he acts a little more like the 16-year-old he is. He introduces himself like an old professional, with just a hint of the bashfulness expected from someone about to enter the 11th grade.

Matt has become a sought-after square-dance caller across New England. His fans say he's just as good as the callers who have been doing it for decades.

Not many people his age square dance, he says, so he primarily calls and dances with people who are much older.

He could be called a veteran: The teen has been perfecting his calling style and square dancing since age 11. The first events were hard, but Matt says he gained confidence with every dance.

"I think that comes with time," he says. "You get to know what you're doing, the dancers have confidence in you . . . and you have confidence in yourself."

Square-dance caller Gene King of Huntington, Mass., who helped teach Matt how to call, calls him "a phenomenon."

"I can't say enough about his poise on the microphone for someone his age," King says. "He has a great voice, really knows his choreography, and knows how to move dancers really well. He's got it all."

Matt got his start in square dancing by accompanying his grandmother to dances. At first, he really didn't want to learn to call dances. But other dancers, callers, and his family encouraged him to try it because he could sing and dance so well. He eventually tried and started taking lessons when he was 12. He attended two calling schools and started doing guest "tips," or square-dance sessions, with other callers, and ultimately went out on his own.

"Clubs around the area started to book me for Friday and Saturday nights," he says. "Then I started to go all around New England, and here I am now."

Today, Matt calls a few times each month. Even though he doesn't have his driver's license yet, he still manages to travel as far as Maine, Vermont, and Upstate New York with the help of his parents and grandmother. Also, since he started, he has called for more than 30 squares (groups of eight dancers) at the New England Square Dance Convention.

In the 1970s and 1980s, there were more square-dancing clubs and more younger people were interested, Matt says. But many square-dancing organizations still exist, as well as hundreds of clubs such as the Hayloft Steppers, to which Matt belongs, and festivals are held nationwide.

He views calling not only as a hobby but as an unconventional part-time job. He says he makes about $140 for one night, depending on the size of the event and the number of dancers. He puts most of his earnings into a savings account; he has a car to fix up after he passes his driver's test.

Matt's grandmother, June McCarthy, watched and collected money at his July 29 dance in a recreation center in East Longmeadow, Mass. McCarthy says Matt took to square-dance calling and dancing immediately. Even though he has had much less experience, she says he manages to measure up to the veteran callers.

"I think he's a little more upbeat," she says. "And he does a lot of the more modern music."

Matt also says he has a different calling style from other area callers, in part because of the music he picks and the energy he has. He bounds from one song to the other without seeming the least bit tired, and he keeps his dancers engaged.

"Some callers don't really get into it," he says. "I go along with the dancers, let them sing and I just get in the middle of the square when I'm calling."

Lori King, who danced in East Longmeadow, says she enjoys Matt's calling style.

"He has such stage presence for somebody his age," she says. "He calls a little bit faster than other callers do."

Basically, Matt says, it's fun.

"I just like being on stage singing and performing and entertaining."