Afshin Jafari shed light on what dance and music really means

Melodica Music Centre, a leading music and dance school in the UAE, aims at fostering the development of young artists and achieve the community's creative aspirations. Melodica, founded by pop artist Afshin, has branches in Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Al Ain, and has remained a top-rated institute from 2017 to 2022. The centre encompasses four major concepts under one roof – dance, music, piano showroom, and a musical store – and is affiliated with several major exam boards, including ABRSM, TRINITY, and RAD Ballet. With the assistance of top instructors from around the world, Melodica specialises in teaching music and dance to children, adults, teachers, and other professionals.

Founder and CEO of Melodica Music Center Afshin Jafari (the singer, who became a businessman) told to Aviamost what dance and music really means, and how aspiring talents need to find their way.

In your opinion what does mean ‘Movement and Rhythm’ when it comes to dance and music?

Rhythm cannot be explained or defined, rather it is a phenomenon like space and time. Like any artist, I would define rhythm as motions that are the fundamental components of music and dance. Dance and music adhere to a rhythmic schedule of pitches and motions. Rhythmic pitches are intervals of music based on the Doppler effect of sound, which represent movements of an abstract event. It is a creation and synchronisation of rhythmic movements that evoke emotions. During my career as a singer and establishing this institution, I have observed that these emotions help heal the mind and body. At Melodica, we support children in developing their talents and strengthening their inner emotions and in my opinion, that is the essence of dance and music.

How has Melodica been inspiring young talents to prosper?

With a wide range of classes conducted by instructors from various countries specialising in a variety of dance and art genres, we offer students opportunities to take part in events and school programmes. We further provide students with opportunities to participate and perform before large audiences. For instance, our students will soon perform at the Burj Park, near the Burj Khalifa, which is expected to draw a large crowd.  We believe this will pique their interest and ease their presence on stage. Similarly, our recent performance at Times Square was also a huge success. Early education contributes to a student's cognitive and personality development, especially in an ever-evolving world, and we strive to provide our students with such lessons that can develop their talents.

What is Melodica’s main objective and what kind of classes does Melodica offer?

While establishing the Melodica Music and Dance institute, I aspired to bring together talented individuals who are passionate about music and dance under one roof and hone their skills and assist them in pursuing their ambitions. We, at Melodica, are committed to achieving this vision, which has helped the institution to become one of the top schools for dance and music in the UAE. We currently operate 20 branches across the UAE under four concepts – dance, music, a piano showroom, and a musical store. Our institution specialises in teaching performing arts to children, adults, and professionals, with our music department providing lessons in a variety of instruments, including the piano, guitar, violin, voice, drums, saxophone, ukulele, flute, recorder, keyboard, and Kiddykey. Moreover, our dance programme offers lessons in ballet, hip-hop, belly dance, modern, jazz, and Zumba among other styles. As part of our mission, we are dedicated to nurture and cultivate artistic talents across the UAE through effective training in the performing arts. We also look forward to expanding our network of institutes in the UAE and supporting the nation's creative industry.