Degree Type:
Bachelor of ArtsDepartment:
Department of Music and DanceProgramme Duration:
4 years (Standard Entry)
Modes of Study:
RegularAbout Programme:
The Dance program is meant to introduce students to the various aspects of Dance Research, Performance and Theory. Students who successfully go through the Program will acquire skills in the pedagogy of Dance (with an emphasis on African Dances), acquire enough content matter to be able to teach Dance at various pre-university levels of education, acquire skills in the theory and compostion of Choreography for a variety of purposes. The program will also prepare students to be able to pursue further studies in various fields of Performing Arts scholarship such as Dance in Education, Ethno-dance, Dance Psychology, Dance Therapy and so on.
Entry Requirements:
WASSCE applicants must have credit passes (A1-C6) in three core subjects, including English Language, Mathematics, Integrated Science or Social Studies. In addition, applicants must have obtained three credit passes (A1-C6) in their elective subjects, at least one of which should be either Music, Creative Arts, or General Arts.
SSSCE applicants must have credit passes (A-D) in three core subjects, including English Language, Mathematics, Integrated Science or Social Studies. In addition, applicants must have obtained three credit passes (A1-C6) in their elective subjects, at least one of which should be either Music, Creative Arts, or General Arts.
Applicants without the required elective subjects (Music, Creative or General Arts), but with previous music performance experience (e.g. in private, school or church groups) can apply. Also, professionals who do not meet the above requirements but have a minimum of 5 years relevant experience in recognised institutions can apply as mature candidates. Such applicants must pass an entrance examination.
Post-Diploma students in Music with a grade point average equivalent to Second Class Lower and above will be admitted into the programme. Such students will join the programme at level 300.
Career Opportunities:
Ghana is a treasure trove of a variety of dances, which establishes cultural identities and enriches the artistic landscape of the country. From Damba to Adowa to Boborbor to Kpanlogo and a host of other dances, the history, beliefs and traditions of the Ghanaian people are well captured in the elaborate movements of the various dances. A Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance seeks to develop the ability of students to perform various traditional and contemporary dances as well as to understand the meaning of the dances they perform themselves.
Programme Structure
Level 100
First Semester
CMS 107: Communicative Skills I
Engaging in academic work at the university is challenging. This course is aimed at equipping fresh students to make the transition from pre-university level to the university level. It assists them in engaging and succeeding in complex academic tasks in speaking, listening, reading and writing. It also provides an introduction to university studies by equipping students with skills that will help them to engage in academic discourse with confidence and fluency.
DAN 111: Introduction to Dance Techniques
This course equips students with skills that enable them to execute meaningful foot, arm, and hand movements. The course utilises indigenous African dance gestures and footwork as the basis for the acquisition of dance techniques. Emphasis is placed on the efficient use of space, energy, and rhythmic accuracy. Other elements of dance that are highlighted in the course are tensions, releases and form.
MUD 111: Rudiments of Music
This course introduces students to the basic materials of music literacy (time and sound), which will lead to pitch notation, time classification, note and rest values, time signatures and intervals. They will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to read and notate simple rhythms and melodies.
MUD 113: Introduction to Performance Studies
This course introduces students to two components of musical performance – ensemble work and performance on solo instruments. Students are therefore required to join one of the Department’s music ensembles and they will also choose a musical instrument to study.
Second Semester
CMS 108: Communicative Skills II
This is a follow-up course on the first semester one. It takes students through writing correct sentences, devoid of ambiguity, through the paragraph and its appropriate development to the fully-developed essay. The course also emphasizes the importance and the processes of editing written work.
DAN 112: Introduction to African Dance
Students will be introduced to African dance in this course, including traditional dances from Ghana and other West African countries. In addition to the application of a variety of dance techniques in choreographies, the course sensitises students to the important interrelation between dance movements and cues played on the drums.
MUD 112: Introduction to Music Theory
This course is designed as a continuation of MUD 111. While deepening their reading and writing skills in musical notation, students will acquire additional knowledge in basic scales and modes, key signatures as well as triads. This will enable them to analyse simple music pieces with regard to melodic structure and tonality.
MUD 114: Performance Studies
Designed as a continuation of MUD 113, the course enables students to build up the performance skills they acquired in the first semester. The course comprises two components, ensemble work and solo instrument. Students will deepen their knowledge of the repertoire for their ensembles and instruments.
Level 200
First Semester
DAN 221: Music, Dance and Society
This course addresses the multiple ways in which music and dance are social activities. It introduces students to a variety of perspectives in the study of music and dance as social phenomenon, drawing on case studies from both Africa and beyond. The functions and meanings of music and dance in everyday life and in the formation of social identities will be explored. In addition, the course will also introduce students to the physical and physiological foundations of sound and movement.
DAN 223: Introduction to Dance Notation
The course introduces students to a variety of dance notations, focusing on different notations that are in use. The course also covers the basics of the Laban notational system that includes the notation of hand, leg and head movements.
MUD 223: Intermediate Performance Studies
The course is designed as a continuation of MUD 114. At this level, students will be exposed to some of the key roles within musical ensembles. They are also expected to perform more elaborate pieces of music on their individual instruments. In addition to ensemble work and solo instrument, students will study a traditional Ghanaian dance.
Second Semester
DAN 222: Introduction to Research in Music and Dance
In this course, students are introduced to the different fields of research in music and dance, including the sociology, anthropology, geography, psychology and neuroscience of music and dance. In addition to an introduction to core readings in these various areas of study, the course will also provide students a hands-on experience in the basic steps of conducting research in music and dance.
DAN 224: Introduction to Dance Composition (practical)
This course introduces students to dance composition and choreography, providing them the opportunity to acquire the skills to utilize dance notation to compose dance movements.
MUD 224: Advanced Performance Studies
The course is designed as continuation of MUD 223. Students are expected to continue with the acquisition of key roles within their ensembles. They will also be expected to perform elaborate pieces of music on their individual instruments, and they will continue to study traditional Ghanaian dance.
Level 300
First Semester
DAN 321: History of Dance in Ghana
In this course, students will be guided to explore the role of dance in social interaction in the past. It focuses particularly on Ghanaian dance forms of the period between 1900 and 2000. It also assists students to engage in comparative study of Ghanaian dance forms as they were enacted in the past.
DAN 323: Intermediary Dance Composition and Labanotation
Students will enhance their creative skills by utilizing notation to compose dance movements. It emphasises elements of rhythm and synchronisation of the dance creative endeavour. It offers students the opportunity to compose dance movements in an authentic African dance style.
DAN 324: Advanced Labanotation
This course is a sequel to DAN 323 and exposes students to elements in structural notation to enhance their analytical skills in movement categories such as tilt, shift and turns. Students will be exposed to advanced possibilities and conventions of Labanotation.
DAN 325: Production Participation: West African Dance Drama practical
The aim of the course is to assist students to develop themes for dance drama performances. They will develop the themes into dance drama pieces using African indigenous dance forms and direct them.
DAN 328: Historical and Comparative Dance Studies
The course assists students to explore the history of dance from the nineteenth century to the present day. It focuses on the comparative study of selected standard dances across the world. The impact of Western dance performance practices on African indigenous dance forms as well as African art dance is investigated.
DAN 329: Contemporary Ghanaian Dance Forms practical
The course assists students to enhance their creative skills in contemporary dance composition. It directs students’ creative endeavours to the composition of contemporary dances from Ghana and other African countries.
DAN 331: Stagecraft: Presenting Traditional African Dance on Stage practical
The course assists students to examine the challenges involved in the presentation of indigenous performing arts on the modern stage. It also provides students with the opportunity to identify executable solutions to some of the problems identified. The course guides students to direct traditional African dances on the modern stage.
DAN 333: Creative Foundations of the Performing Arts
The course exposes students to the principles underscoring the creative behaviour in the performing arts. It also focuses on the study of the creative behaviour of choreographers and dance performers. The principles of ‘insight’, ‘incubation’ and ‘execution’ periods are explored.
DAN 335: Dance Tourism of Ghana
The course looks at dance in relation to tourism in Ghana. It aims at enhancing students’ ability to understand cultural tourism and the place of dance in promoting and projecting tourism. It also focuses on the role of dance tourism in social, cultural, and economic development.
DAN 338: Dance, Ritual and Art
The course engages students in the study of dance movements executed in ritual contexts. It encourages students to examine the extent to which dance movements in ritual are considered artistic. In addition, it examines the relevance of dance in ritual contexts.
Second Semester
DAN 330: Advanced Dance Composition practical
The course provides opportunities for students to engage in the advanced composition of dance pieces. It focuses on the composition of dance drama within the framework of theatre for development. It also provides students with the opportunity to use indigenous dance elements in creative ways.
DAN 332: Socio-cultural Background of African Dance Forms
The course exposes students to the socio-cultural background of African indigenous dance forms. It studies the role of dance in festivals, rites of passage, religion and other social events. It examines the artistic import of the dance forms that are presented in social contexts.
DAN 334: Kinesiology
The course provides students with the opportunity to study basic facts about anatomy, physiology and kinesiology as they relate to dance. The practical application for the prevention of injury during dance rehearsals and performances is emphasised.
DAN 336: Dance Tourism of West Africa
DAN 335 is a pre-requisite for this course. It focuses on dance as art form and its role in promoting the tourism industry within the West African sub-region. Students will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of dance as a tool for promoting and projecting tourism.
DAN 337: Dance Management
This course focuses on the principles of management and their application to dance as an art form. It also examines the techniques of dance production as a business venture, including audience management, ticketing and budgeting.
DAN 339: Psychology of Dance
This course enhances students’ understanding dance in relation to Psychology. The course will focus on the conceptual and cognitive side of dance, exposing students to dance movement therapy, creativity of children, and emotions of the audience and the dancer.
DAN 340: Intermediate Dance Management
As a sequel to DAN 337, this course exposes students to Management, Marketing and Publicity of dance as a business venture. It equips students with the necessary managerial skills needed to manage the performing arts with an emphasis on dance companies. It also examines the entrepreneurial role of the performing artist in the entertainment industry.
DAN 399: Research Methods
The course is designed to introduce students to basic research techniques in Social Sciences and dance Studies. It exposes students to qualitative and quantitative research paradigms and helps them to engage in research studies that employ the two paradigms.
Level 400
First Semester
DAN 421: Advanced African Indigenous Dance Forms practical
The course engages in an in-depth study of traditional African dance forms. The focus of the course is on the impact of the African world view on the development of dance gestures and movement patterns. It explores the relevance of the world view of the contemporary Ghanaian as the basis for the generative processes involved in the creation of movement patterns and gestures.
DAN 423: Career Development
The course assists students to explore their personal and aesthetic goals while offering information on such practical requirements like résumé development, concert production, fundraising and grant proposal writing. The course also addresses career possibilities in dance.
DAN 425: Dance Theatre and Development
The course equips students with the requisite skills to relate dance to development. It enhances students’ skills in the creation of dance compositions that are relevant for social development
DAN 427: Dance Production (practical)
The course exposes students to factors of dance production. It engages students in a critical review of traditional approaches to dance production and assists
them to device new ways of approaching dance production.
DAN 429: Twentieth-Century Dance Styles
The course explores twentieth-century dance styles as experienced in Ghana and other countries in Africa. It guides students to examine the factors that have shaped
African and Ghanaian dance forms of the 20th century.
DAN 433: African Dance Performance
The course assists students to study African court dances as well as traditional popular dances. The role of these dance forms in the socio-economic
development of African societies is explored. The course also provides opportunities for students to research African course music and dance.
MUD 425: Advanced Music Composition
This course aims at relating advanced music theory to the compositional craft. Students will be assisted to apply their knowledge in a wide range of styles,
both Western, African and popular idioms, and to develop their personal compositional language, resulting in a larger original works.
Second Semester
DAN 422: Dance Aesthetics and Criticism
The course engages students in a philosophical discussion regarding the nature and value of dance. It critically evaluates each of the various schools of thought that offer explanation to the meaning of art and dance.
DAN 424: Theory and Practice of African Indigenous Dance Forms
The course provides opportunities for students to study selected African traditional dances. It assists students to acquire skills in the playing of African indigenous instruments. It also explores principles underscoring generative processes of traditional African dance forms.
DAN 426: Advanced Choreography practical
The course enhances students’ knowledge of modern choreography. It requires students to develop choreographed dances that are relevant for the promotion of dance in schools, universities and the larger Ghanaian community.
DAN 428: African-American Dance Theatre
The course examines the African-American dance heritage against the background of the economic and social situation in America. It also assesses the impact of African dance culture on African-American dance heritage.
DAN 430: Advanced Production Participation practical
The course provides students the opportunity to practice their knowledge of dance production theory. It also provides opportunities for the production of extended dance pieces with students taking on roles as directors, stage managers, make-up technicians etc.
DAN 431: Advanced Dance Techniques
The course provides students with the opportunity to examine extended dance pieces with the view to studying the compositional techniques underscoring those pieces.
It provides students with relevant skills to enable them to execute elaborate dance movements.
DAN 499: Project Work
The course is designed to assist students who opt for dance composition in the writing of extensive dance pieces utilising a variety of dance idioms.
Students who choose to do a research project are helped to write long essays based on their chosen topics of interest.