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Program Overview

This three-week training program gives you the opportunity to learn gyil music (a Ghanaian xylophone), drumming, singing, dancing, batik and tie-dye making, kente weaving, beads making, and basket weaving. You will also participate in drum and xylophone making workshops, cooking, volunteer teaching at nearby schools, and working with women groups, such as market women, church groups and community-based network groups.

The program also includes excursions to other parts of Ghana, including the Kintampo waterfalls, the slave castles in Cape Coast, tropical beaches, the ancient city of Kumasi, the longest rain forest canopy walk in the world, (Kakum National Park), and the exciting city of Accra, where you will see West Africa’s largest craft and art market (the Art Center), the National Museum, the University of Ghana and a performance at the National Theatre.

“During these three weeks, I learned more about music than I had in three years of University. The experience was not just one of great significance and growth, but one that I cannot wait to repeat!”

Performing Arts Points of Interest

Alliance Française d’Accra

The Alliance Française d’Accra is a cultural center aimed at preserving and educating the public on French language and Franco-Ghanaian culture. The center offers dance performances as well as art exhibits. The center also offers French courses from beginner to specialized advanced levels. The alliance organizes 5 festivals a year: the Francophonie Festival, Live in Accra Jazz Festival, Gastronomy Festival, Future Fest Electronic Music Festival, and the Accra Hip Hop Week.

Chez Afrique

Close to the University of Ghana, Chez Afrique is a restaurant that hosts local bands, DJs, and other artists daily. Music ranges from jazz, highlife, reggae, and “random” mixes.

+233 Jazz Bar

Named after the Ghanaian area code, +233 Jazz Bar is local bar that hosts bands six days a week. The bar is two stories and has outside seating as well. Music styles include jazz, blues, highlife, and, rarely, some hip hop. This is a great place to listen to live music, meet locals, and try Ghanaian cuisine.

PAA Home Base

Our Ghana programs are based at the Dagara Music Center (DMC) in the village of Medie just outside the capital city of Accra. The family of our Site Directors – Michael and Joyce Woma – will greet you warmly and welcome you as a member of the family during your stay. You will be provided all meals during your program, and the center has its own generator and water tank to protect against power and plumbing outages. Medie is an incredibly diverse area, and the center is just down the street from a Pentecostal church, a Krishna temple, a Catholic church and a bar! Public transportation will get you from the center to downtown Accra where you can explore a wide variety of markets and performance venues.

About the Location

Ghana is full of life, and home to a wide array of ethnic groups with a range of cultural diversity and music traditions. With an abundance of gold, the country helped give this area of Africa its name: the Gold Coast. It is a country of plains and plateaus covered by rain forests in the west and Lake Volta in the east—one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Accra, home to over 3 million people, is a bustling and increasingly modern city with many of the amenities you would expect in your own place of residence. The music and dance center is located on the outskirts of the city in a more residential area called Medie with easy access to the city center.

Housing

You will stay in dormitory-style accommodations in the dance and music center where you may share a room with several other participants depending on the number enrolled during your session. The dorm is located at the center, across from the family home, and most space is shared communally by the family and participants. Meals are shared in an indoor dining room or outside at picnic tables. There is electricity provided by a generator owned by the center to protect against power failures, and running water is supplied by a privately owned borewell. There are modern showers and toilets, and one shower with hot water available.

During excursions to other parts of Ghana, you will stay in hotels or guest houses, included in the cost of the program.

All meals are included in the price of this program, but you will be responsible for purchasing your own bottled drinking water.

Roommates

Depending on the size of your session’s group, your room may be shared with other international musicians or dancers of the same sex. During the summer we usually have a handful of participants joining a larger group of a dozen or more.

A Day in the Life



The Participant Experience

Sitting on the front porch of the Woma family home in the middle of the dance center, you hear the sounds of children laughing and playing. A warm breeze brings the smells of fires cooking the evening meal, and whips some dust into the air. Crossing the Kakum Canopy Walk, you clutch the rope bridge tightly as you try not to look down at the rainforest floor 130 feet below, while monkeys and birds hop around curiously observing you. Merchants in the Accra Art Center loudly call you into their stalls as the vibrant colors beckon you to come closer…

The sights, sounds, and smells of Ghana are difficult to forget, and the hospitality you experience from your hosts will live in your memory forever. Your days will be spent in morning and afternoon training sessions with lunch in the middle, and your evenings will be filled with laughter and storytelling, as you watch (and sometimes participate in!) the cooking of the meal for the center’s guests. Dance is only the beginning of what you will learn during your time in Ghana, as you will have a chance to try your hand at a wide variety of handicrafts and other cultural art-forms. A multi-day trip around Ghana will leave you exhausted, but also somehow full of energy. By the time your last day rolls around, you will not want to leave, but we hope you bring the lessons you learn and the dance vocabulary you gain back to your community at home, and share a little piece of Ghana with your friends and family.

On Arrival

You will book your flight to arrive at Kotoka International Airport in Accra (ACC). A PAA representative will be waiting for you in the arrivals areas with a sign that has our logo on it. You will be driven to the music center, and will spend the first day unpacking, settling in, and getting to know the family and workers at the center as well as other program participants. The following day will include an orientation to Accra, day to day life in Medie where the center is located, health and safety, and other details relating to your specific program.

A Typical Day

For your remaining time at the center, you will join morning and afternoon training session every day, lasting three hours each. You will also spend several days traveling to important cultural sites in Ghana with the group, led by instructors at the music and dance center.

Host Group

The music and dance center where you will be training was founded over 10 years ago by Bernard Woma, one of the most famous players of the Dagara gyil, a xylophone native to the northwest region of Ghana. You will receive instruction from more than a dozen highly trained experienced dancers and musicians from all over Ghana. Guest artists will visit the center to offer courses in batik, tye-dying, kente weaving, drum making, blacksmithing, and other cultural arts of Ghana. The center is also near several historical castles such as the Cape Coast Castle, as well as a number of beautiful Atlantic beaches, which you will visit during your three weeks.

Support Staff

Support Staff

Support Staff

Support Staff

Videos

Testimonials

I learned so much, not only art, music and dance, but important life lessons. Everyone was so giving and accommodating. The teachers were really thorough with dancing instructions…I learned how to make Adinkra prints, batik, calabash bowl and jewelry art, and basket weaving. I had the most amazing and personal experience!

“I could not be happier with my experience in Ghana. It wasn’t always easy and definitely required me to be open to new things and personal growth, but I learned so much and met amazing people. I would highly recommend this program to anyone.”

“I was very satisfied with my travel experience. I found my home in Ghana and I look forward to more traveling experiences there. I enjoyed the activities. I enjoyed the dance classes as well as the singing classes. I fully enjoyed my time in Ghana.”

How it Works

The information on this page provides details for a sample group program. Note that every group is different, and we will work with you to cater the experience to your group. To connect with us and begin organizing a program for your group, please follow the “Get Started’ button below and submit an initial questionnaire. We will then contact you to set up a discovery call where we can go into more detail about your group’s needs and what we can offer.

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