TEACHING DANCE THROUGH VIDEO TECHNOLOGY: THE CASE OF SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS DANCE DEPARTMENT LEGON

In Africa where the acquisition of traditional dance knowledge is essential through life-long participation in activities connected with this art form, the application of video technology to the teaching of dance and its related arts of music, drama and the visual arts, will not only help shorten the learning and teaching processes. It is hoped that this will result in improved methods of preservation and documentation. The quest for higher and quality education has always been paramount on Ghana’s Agenda. The Department of Dance Studies at the University of Ghana and other institutions nationwide with over 50 years of dance education have faced many challenges in attempts to fulfill some educational obligations. The above may be attributed to the complexity of dance as a fleeting phenomenon, which sometimes makes the teaching of this art form a daunting challenge for both teachers and learners. As the combination of video, computers and internet application becomes increasingly useful in many areas of society, the need for its application in various aspects of the arts is becoming increasingly important. With particular focus on the Damba Takai dance from the northern region of Ghana, this paper will examine the use of video technology as an aid to the development of a codification system for the teaching of Ghanaian dances.