DANCE STUDIES IN THE NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM: HOW RELEVANT TO TfD? 
Felix A. Akinsipe 
Introduction 
The flute summons the first candidate, Ejembi, to present his manifesto. The drums begin to pulsate. The mood is that of celebration on one hand, and that of expectation on the other. Ejembi bursts into the arena, with his acolytes dancing to the drumming which is particular to the Aringa masquerade, now 
	rechristened Ikpokw' lkinabo (Abah 2005:43) emphasis mine. 	
The above excerpt from the account by Abah 2005, described the only appearance of dance in the three scenarios that were performed in the Akpa TID workshop in 1989 in Nigeria. In the account of Abah and Etherton (1981 :9), the first two experiments of TID by Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Northern Nigeria, in 1980 and 1981 respectively, no mention of dance at all was made. Similarly, and almost two decades after, Harding's (1999:99), account of her participation in the Benue theatre for development workshop, left out the appearance of dance in any of the scenarios performed. 
More recently, in the practice of TID, dance can only be found employed as a means of 'gathering the crowd for the performance' but in the performance per se, it comes up, if ever it does, as an embellishment or spontaneous reaction to music. Dance has never featured as a direct means of communication for the handling a scene or as something on which the meaning or understanding of a scenario dependents. 
Why this is so is the main thrust of this paper. It is discovered that it is impossible to give what you don't have. For dance to perform and feature effectively in the TIDs it must be handled by trained professionals. But for now in Nigeria these people are very few. 
The traditional art in Nigeria, like many other African countries, is a fusion of music, dance, drama and other related arts. Indeed these elements are so interwoven in the traditional performing arts that the absence of one renders the whole performance incomplete and, in most cases, unacceptable to the people. Even when drama is the focus, music and dance are employed. to give it life. 
However, when the academic study of the performing arts started in Nigeria, the story changed. For example, the study of drama started as part of English 
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Language and in the English Department of many Nigerian universities with the University of Ibadan taking the lead, as far back as the 1960s. In all cases, after a while, drama became a full academic department and this is the case with many theatre/dramatic/performing arts departments in Nigeria including Ahmadu Bello University whose drama unit stayed under the English department for close to thirty years. Even then, it existed all these years as a unit of the department awarding Bachelor of Arts (B.A. Hons.), Masters of Arts (M.A.) and Doctorate (Ph.D) degrees. 
Also, as far back as 1960, a department of music was created in Nigeria at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Many other universities have followed suit and degrees up to Ph.D levels are being awarded in music. To a very large extent, the study of music and drama as academic disciplines can today be said to be on course in Nigeria. 
Unfortunately, this is yet to be the case with dance as there is yet to be a single department of dance in the whole country. Dance is still studied under the theatre/dramatic/performing arts departments of our Universities. Even then, none of these departments award any degree - not even a Bachelor of Arts degree in dance. This approach to the study of dance, no doubt, poses some problems to the proper study and development of the course in terms of scope, content and indeed, the end product. 
Until dance is taught in a department of dance, the various aspects of it that can produce a sound dance scholar cannot be undertaken. This is the experience in Ghana as Adinku (1996:1) puts it: 
The establishment of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana in 1962 paved way for serious research into various aspects of African creative Culture ... Dance, like any other traditional form, acquired a place in the School and scholars have continued to undertake research into its features, styles, themes, and performance etiquette and role differentiation. 
The continued study of dance under these various Departments, in Nigeria, therefore poses the some challenges to the growth and development of dance in the Nigerian Universities. These include the problems of scope, qualified lecturers, background, material etc., as it will be discussed in subsequent paragraphs. 
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The Problem of scope 
The problem of scope constitutes the major hindrance to the proper study and 
development of dance in the Nigerian Universities since "Drama" is the primary focus of these theatre/dramatic/performing arts departments, dance is, therefore, treated as an appendage or complement to the other arts with very little space allocated to it in the curriculum (Syllabus). It is common to find as few as two courses and a maximum of four courses allocated to dance throughout a four -year programme. In most cases, one at each level of the programme of study, this is grossly inadequate to produce a qualified dance graduate. 
With only four or less courses in a four year programme, it is obviously impossible to teach, train or produce a proper, qualified or professional dance artist or scholar. The various branches of dance as a course are not studied because of this narrow space for them. 
For a sound dance programme, Babarinde-Hall (1987:46) posits that an institution will need at least three full-time staff and graduate assistant and part-time specialists to complement in the following areas; 
1.	Dance technique and creativity. 
2.	Human Anatomy. 
3.	Kinetic injury prevention and cure. 
4.	Dance therapy. 
5.	Dance history. 
6.	Ethnography and general anthropological research and 
7.	Criticism in dance. 
Problem of qualified lecturers 
Related to the above is the paucity of qualified lecturers to teach dance courses in the Nigerian Universities. If those teaching the courses are themselves, the product of the existing system they are, therefore, not well trained and grounded in the art themselves, tand could obviously to offer anything for the growth of the course discipline in Nigeria. It is the common practice today to describe somebody as a dance specialist because he dares to take advanced choreography or the final year dance course or simply because he wrote his final year project on dance - whether or not he has taken relevant dance courses to back it up. 
In a research conducted by this writer, in eleven departments of theatre/dramatic/performing arts in Nigerian Universities in 1999, it was discovered among others that only two of the eleven have lecturers who studied 
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and specialized in dance. Others have their degrees either in Music or Drama with emphasis in such areas as acting, directing, theatre management and children's theatre. Three of the institutions have no dance lecturer at all, yet they have dance courses on their curriculum. Six of the institutions have only one lecturer each (none of whom is a dance specialist) handling all their dance courses. It was noted that we have the situation of people being employed to teach dance just because they are known to be good dancers or they have the record of having been a part of or the head of a popular local dancing group in their environment or having worked with the Arts Councils. Similarly, there are people drafted to teach dance because they have studied music and it is assumed that they must have taken some courses in dance - even if it is only one or two throughout an entire programme. 
In a situation like this where the "lecturer" is a glorified local dancer, he teaches the student practical dancing alone relying on the past production he has been involved in. Thus, the students are not even taught to be creative or to be able to compose dances on their own. They only copy and reproduce what their master give them. Here, no theory or incorrect theories are taught. On the other hand where the teacher is not a trained dancer himself, he teaches only theories downloaded from the internet or picked-up in some books which in most cases, he is not able to explain or demonstrate in practical terms to the students. All this is done to make the students earn a grade and fulfil the academic requirements of moving to the next level. 
However, in a full dance department students will have to take nothing less than six different dance courses on different areas of dance at each level of the programme and then follow through to the end. Different dance courses will be taken as beginner courses, intermediate and advanced studies, both in theory and practice. Students will even have the opportunity to specialize in, or, emphasize an area of dance. 
In Ghana, for example, arrangement for the development of dance as an academic programme took off since 1962 within the National Dance Company and two years later, according to Adinku, (1994:7-8), a curriculum for a certificate in dance came into existence within the School of Music and Drama and the following courses were examined both in theory and practice for the final. year Certificate Course. 
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Written Papers 
1.	Introduction to Movement Analysis and Notation. 
2.	Studies in African Dance Forms. 
3.	Theory of Music. 
Practical Examination 
1.	Exercises and Reading in Labanotation Texts. 
2.	Studies in African Dance Forms. 
3.	Composition of Dance based on Studies in African Movements. 
By 1968, there was already a Dance Section and the Diploma Course was in progress with examination written in the following papers; 
A.	Written Papers 
	i 	Movement Analysis I (Labanotation). 
	ii 	Movement Analysis II (African Dance Forms). 
	iii 	Dance History and Criticism. 
	iv 	Choreography (Principles of choreography). 
	v 	Dance and Theatre. 
	vi 	Music. 
B.	Practical 
	i 	Dictation and Sight Reading Tests in Labanotation. 
	ii 	Assignment in Notating African Dances. 
	iii 	Performance. 
	iv 	Choreography. 
C.	Research and Writing - A minor thesis based on original research in 
African Dance Forms. 
By 1977, the School of Music and Drama at Legon had transformed into the School of Performing Arts with a Department of Dance. 
Problem of Background 
Another major problem of dance studies in Nigeria is the absence of teaching or 
training in dance from the elementary schools. As observed by Akinsipe (1999) dance is not found on the Primary and Secondary schools curriculum in Nigeria. Therefore, students come to the University to study dance without any background knowledge in dance. It is therefore difficult for them to cope with the 
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musical demands of dance. It is therefore a common feature in most of our theatre/dramatic/performing departments to find only two or three students 'specializing' in dance out of a class of about forty. 
Problem of Books and Materials 
To produce dance scholars in the Nigerian universities, there must be adequate reading materials on this subject matter. Apart from the few edited books that are issued sporadically come (most of which contain different articles on different subjects/ topics on dance) we still do not have books detailing the history, types, practice and techniques of dance in Nigeria. Ebun Clark (1988: 192) submits that where books on the pedagogy of dance do not exist, a dynamic scholarship on the subject cannot evolve, or its growth will at best be an ad hoc one which is what we are expenencmg now. 
Problem of Facilities 
Coupled with the above is the lack of adequate facilities. Almost none of our departments have a dance studio in the real sense of it. There are so many of these departments offering dance courses without a dance studio at all while the departments that have, only provide a multi-purpose hall or a bare concrete floor. 
Prospects 
At present, in Nigeria, the only ray of hope for dance can be found in the University of Ilorin where we have a department of the Performing Arts. Music, dance and drama are given equal consideration. Also students of performing Arts pass through the same introductory courses in these areas in the first two years and are allowed to choose an area of specialization in the last two years. Having indicated an area of specialization the students take more courses that can equip them fairly adequately to a great level as dance scholars/artists. 
Even though the integral nature of music, dance and drama in an African performance is encouraged, the students in this school are opportune to learn these different forms as independent art. Also to a large extent the graduate of dance in the department possesses the required level of training to train others in the art and the department has been retaining some of them to do just that. 
The department has a dance studio that is big enough to accommodate 50 students at once. The floor is covered with wooden platform and the side walls are filled with standing mirrors to allow the students see what they are doing. 
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With this prospect we hope that one day the department can become a faculty with music, dance and drama becoming. a department on their own. If this happens, then a landmark for dance studies would have been achieved in Nigeria and then qualified dance scholars will emerge to do the right things with dance and in the TfDs. 
References 
Akinsipe, F. A. (1999) "Dance in Nigerian Primary Schools: Approaches and Concepts for the Next Millennium", in Nigerian Theatre Journal, Vol. 5, No.1.. 
Bunmi B. (1987) "The Nigerian Dance Graduate: Career Opportunities and Financial Survival" Theatre Forum. 
Ebun, C. (1998). "Dance Scholarship in Nigeria: A Historical Review," in: 
Documentation Beyond Performance: Dance Scholarship Today, Vol. 7. Susan Ann and Frank-Manuel Peter (eds.) Essen-Berlin: Federal Republic of Germany Center of the International Theatre Institute, pp. 191- 204. 
Harding, F. (1999). "Fifteen Years between Benue and Kastina Workshops, Nigeria" in Africa Theatre in Development Banham et al. (eds.), Oxford: 
J ames Currey Ltd. 
Oga S. A. (2005). Performing Life: Case Studies in the Practice of Theatre for Development, Zaria: Tamaza Publishing Ltd. 
Oga S. A. and Etherton, M. (1981) "The Samaru Projects: Street Theatre in Northern Nigeria" in Saiwa: A Journal of Communication Issue: 1, English Department, ABU, Zaria. 
Ofotsu A. (1996). "Justifying Dance Education in Ghana". In Journal of Performing Arts Vol.2, No 1. 
Ofotsu, W. A. (1994) African Dance Education in Ghana, Accra: Ghana University Press. 
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