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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.