As laughter ripples across Geneva Hall, the slowest dancer is left holding the broom. He soon finds a partner, couples trade partners, and the odd person out picks up the broom while the band drives the tempo of a Doc Watson tune. Beneath the hall’s bright lights, the wood floor vibrates under the rhythm of boots, sandals, and sneakers sliding across the room. In the center of the rectangular hall stands the legendary square dance caller of Little Switzerland — Frank Brown.

With his booming voice and bushy eyebrows, he commands the attention of everyone on the dance floor. Some hesitate to test the skills they first learned in school, so Brown slows his calls, breaking down each step to dances such as Circle Left, Do-Si-Do, Promenade, and Swing Your Partner. Soon even the most uncertain participants step forward to dance — and remember.

As the town’s square dance caller for 27 years, Frank Brown is known for making regulars and newcomers alike feel welcome. photograph by Derek Diluzio

As the evening continues, the room fills with people swinging from one partner to another. The attempt at London Bridge involves dancers ducking under raised arms while laughing, holding the lines together to a choreographed dance they’ve known for years.

“I arrange it in such a way that it all works out in the end,” Brown says. “Not all the dances are exactly alike.”

• • •

Since 1928, the Little Switzerland Community Association has been hosting a traditional square dance every Saturday night in July and August. For $6, collected in cash at the door, patrons enjoy a night of live music, dancing, and community.

Wood-paneled walls lined with photographs, plaques, and chairs frame the open dance floor, where locals and visitors gather and dance. Twelve-year-old Lydia Delaney and her mom, Tracy Ledford, drove from Waxhaw to their summer cabin in Spruce Pine and have been coming to the square dance since Lydia was born. Sitting on the sidelines while a musician tunes his banjo, Lydia bops her head back and forth, stomping her feet to the beat. She’s always ready to dance to mountain music.

“It’s about having fun,” Lydia says. “It’s about socializing and meeting people. You may be able to make new friends.”

• • •

For 27 years, Brown has been the town’s square dance leader. Although he grew up in Miami, Florida, his family formed a connection with Little Switzerland after his grandparents honeymooned nearby in 1910. Brown spent summers at his uncle’s home in western North Carolina, and in 1954, when he was 4 years old, his babysitter took him to his first square dance.

By his teenage years, Brown was a regular at the dances, where Charles Renfro and The Toe River Valley Boys played traditional bluegrass music and fiddle tunes. Brown credits the callers who came before him, including Renfro, who died in 2025, for teaching him everything he knows about calling. “Renfro injected a certain kind of energy into the square dance,” Brown says. “He put on a good show.”

In 1954, when Frank Brown was 4 years old, his babysitter took him to his first square dance.

In the late 1990s, the square dance struggled with funding and participation, so Brown stepped in to volunteer his services as the caller and coordinator.

“I raised a big squawk,” Brown says, “and they said, ‘If you want the square dance, you have to run it, and you have to make a profit.’ ” So that’s what he did.

Every March, Brown lines up live music for July and August, and every summer since 1999, Brown has managed to make a profit and pay the bands a small fee. Traditional mountain songs such as “Black Mountain Rag,” “Down Yonder,” and “Golden Slippers” are often part of the repertoire.

Geneva Hall photograph by Derek Diluzio

When Brown isn’t calling London Bridge, Birdie in the Cage, and Grandma Swing Grandpa, he calls a cake walk — a lively promenade-style dance created by enslaved Black people in the South. Dancers pay a dollar for the chance to take home their choice of desserts, donated by residents of Little Switzerland. Brown always bakes a blueberry pie — three of which Lydia has won over the years. Like musical chairs, participants walk in a circle until the music stops.

As he announces the winner, Brown turns the moment into a history lesson by sharing a story about the area. This time it’s about North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Heriot Clarkson, the founder of Little Switzerland. His portrait hangs on the far wall, along with local characters from plenty of other stories Brown loves to tell.

• • •

Daira Mann grew up tagging along with her grandmother, Pat Mann, to the Little Switzerland square dances. It’s part of her family’s heritage. In the late ’90s, Pat recalls playing “Sally Goodin” on the guitar with Nathan Stuart and the Blue Grass Buddies at the dances. These days, Pat has a different reason to be excited. At the end of the 2024 season, Brown enlisted the now 24-year-old Daira to study square dance calling under him.

After moving back to Spruce Pine from Virginia in 2021, Daira returned to Geneva Hall with her family. She works full-time as the store manager at The Historic Orchard at Altapass while studying to be a pastor. But there is always room in her schedule for square dancing.

Daira Mann, who grew up going to these square dances with her grandmother, is now under Brown’s tutelage to become a caller. photograph by Derek Diluzio

“I love the tradition here,” Daira says. “Any time I have the opportunity [to talk about the square dances], I bring it up to people. I love to see the locals interested again.”

Daira wants to promote dances through the event’s Facebook page and continue distributing flyers at local venues. It’s important to her that residents and visitors feel welcome and enjoy the summer in Little Switzerland, discovering what she fell in love with many years ago.

• • •

As Daira moves to center stage, clad in a bright yellow plaid shirt, jeans, and black cloggers, her clear voice and big smile encourage even the shyest participant. Under Brown’s tutelage, she’s learning how to read the room and draw folks onto the floor. She says she teaches through a “follow-the-leader” style.

“You have to feel the crowd and see how experienced they are, what they want to do,” she explains. “Sometimes they get confused, and that’s OK.”

The music continues, and Daira reaches for Lydia’s hand to promenade across the room, where they lead Wind Up the Clock, her favorite call on a hot summer evening. She asks the group of dancers to grip each other’s hands and follow her to form a tight coil. When the tension is just right, Daira instructs them to rush out and follow her and Lydia to the front lawn, where the night air cools the dancers and laughter breaks the quiet of the surrounding woods.

Geneva Hall
86 High Ridge Road
Little Switzerland, NC 28749
facebook.com/littleswitzerlanddance