In just a nanosecond, all it took for the 6-foot-6 Chuck Davis to stir the audience into jubilant obedience was to call out “A-GO!” three times and have everyone respond with a fervent “ASE! ASE! ASE!” NAN COULTER/Special Contributor The Ndere Troupe performed at the Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s 2007 Dance Africa Festival. Part love fest, part religious revival, the 2007 Dance Africa Festival got off with all guns firing Friday night at the Majestic Theatre, and the energy never flagged.

The charismatic Mr. Davis, clad in flowing blue robe, opened the festival with the call and response act that immediately pulled the audience into that mood of high expectation. As the drums pounded, an army of dancers and drummers churned its way from the back of the theater and up onto the stage, swaying and chanting, moving like a cascading river at high tide.

Four groups gathered as one: Voice of Africa, Mandinka African Dance Company, Ndere Troupe from Uganda, and the host company, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, in dress that ranged from simple white robes to multilayered, elaborate outfits of blues, orange, reds and greens. In the section called “Rituals,” Mr. Davis welcomed the four groups, urged everyone to call out the names of their own ancestors, and paid tribute to the elders by asking everyone over 55 to stand up.

Ten members of Dallas Black Dance Theatre moved slowly in lines, each carrying a candle, in the ceremony for the ancestors. To celebrate the elders, rows and rows of dancers and drummers circled the ancestors on stage, bending very low in deference at tilted angles. Ritual gave way to “Cultures” and “Livestyles,” with the first represented by the upbeat singing group Voice of Africa, and the second by the exuberant Mandinka African Dance Company.