Ghana’s Odadaa! Connects With Audience

So often, African touring troupes of music and dance get stuck in nonstop action mode--wonderfully fleet, but a little too pointed at the audience, like loud Broadway, or Las Vegas. Odadaa!, a troupe of 11 Ghanaian musicians and dancers making their Southern California debut on Friday in Pasadena, had a less packaged, more intimate feeling, without sacrificing excitement.

There was even some glitter (a little purple lame; some sparkly gold shorts under kente cloth), but the really bright light came from inventive drumming, multi-part harmony and virtuosic dancing.

Odadaa! members warmed up the shallow stage of the Beckman Auditorium at Caltech in no time, led by founder and artistic director Yacub Addy, who played drums and provided a little wry commentary.

Odadaa! has its roots in the Ga ethnic group and Addy’s home village just outside the Ghanaian capital, Accra. (Odadaa is the name of a rhythm that opens a harvest festival.) The senior member of the talented ensemble, Addy now lives in upstate New York and gathers other Ghanaians to perform traditional work and his own songs.

Floating or vibrant harmonies were the backbone of Addy songs like “Kale, Kale” and “Love Yourself,” with stirring a cappella moments effectively following intense percussive passages. The traditional, Jamaica-inspired “Gome” was superb, featuring the chest-reverberating bass sounds of the drum of the same name.

Addy’s staging and choreography adroitly featured performers’ individual strengths. The drummers’ own “Logo Talk” experimented with unison rhythms and subtle interactions; the dancers strutted their considerable stuff, sporting incredibly vivid torso and hip isolations--the equivalent of eloquent, direct talk that can spring you into an electrifying sense of the present tense.

In “Ga Akong,” a raffia-skirted soloist used danced rhythms to evoke healing power, his sudden barrel turns and flat-footed floor tattoos always riveting. In “Kundun,” and elsewhere, athletic feats (like locomoting in a crouch or a seated position) were sprinkled among subtle swings and forceful articulations.

When Odadaa! invited audience members onstage, many responded. The good, the bad and the just plain enthusiastic were a testament to the company’s inspirational spirit.