The Faculty of Dance and Drama (FDD) was established parallel to the establishment of the University of the Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA) in July 2005 by upgrading the Institute of Aesthetic Studies of the University of Kelaniya under the Extraordinary Gazette Notification Number 1400/24 dated 08th July 2005.

Today, the Faculty consists of seven Departments (i.e. Department. of Kandyan Dance, Department of Low-country Dance, Department of Sabaragamuwa Dance, Department of Percussion Music, Department of Indian and Asian Dance, Department of History and Theory of Dance and Drama, Department of Theatre, and Oriental Ballet and Contemporary Dance).

The departments offer four-year (Honours) degree courses in thirteen areas of study. Each degree programme aims to create a graduate with theoretical and practical knowledge in the relevant field of performing arts (i.e. dance, theatre or film), creative and socio-emotional skills, critical and analytical thinking capacities and professionalism. In dance-based studies, primarily, the degree programmes explore and practice the dance traditions of Sri Lanka and India as well as contemporary dance forms of the West. In theatre and film related courses, the students are exposed to most updated knowledge in the relevant fields. However, these degree courses do not merely provide knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to traditional and contemporary performance trends, but also focus on the study of critical theories, the application of pedagogies and essential skills to adapt to varied performance spaces and contexts as performance practitioners. In addition to this, the degree programmes simultaneously offer the opportunities and the training required to achieve career goals of students, including institutional and field training, research projects, language-based learning mainly in English and Tamil, information technology and computer skills, along with career development orientation and guidance.

The Faculty enrolls about 330 students (275 for Dance Discipline and 55 for Drama Discipline) annually and the Grade Point Average (GPA) system is in practice to assess the performance of undergraduates. The graduates of this faculty are capable of finding employment opportunities in public, quasi-public and private sectors, and nonprofit organizations, or seek career pathways as freelancers and entrepreneurs.