Rehearsal's and Unit 8 Test 8/12/14

This morning, we had our Unit 8 test on the performing arts industry. After which we learned a Syrian dance phrase, which included a lot of foot work. We also had a workshop on what it feels like to lose something that means a lot to you, and that has a lot of memories. This coincides with how the Syrian family's would feel if they left there home.

Torn set list

Update on the Show!

In Monday's and Thursday's lessons, we have been running all the show numbers in order. From these rehearsals I now know:

• I have a quick change from the opening number into our small group piece 'Alice'
• After the small group piece, I have another quick change into 'Glam'
• I come off early from 'Glam' and have yet another quick change into the 'Suitcase' routine
• After the refugee number, we now stay in position and I pick up Erin's choreography before I exit the stage
• In the suitcase number, We come on higher upstage, and after mine and Callie's duet I start the suitcase motif which is in cannon with Hannah
• Next lesson I need to bring in something that I would be gutted if I left behind, these will hopefully be scattered along the stage at the end of one of the routines

Rehearsals 27/11/14

Today, we worked on the basketball dance which is continuation of the opening. We started by getting into pairs with someone on the other side of the studio, and made up our own motif. We also learnt another motif that was choreographed by Jodie and Andrea. Which we could also perform by ourselves. Brett and Jazz, (the assistant choreographers) also made up a section when we were split into the two teams.


After break we worked on yet another section which involved us trying to be cool when playing basketball. We put together all the sections and it was coming together, we just need to clean up the transitions and movement. Lastly we ran through all the group numbers before the end of the lesson.

Open Evening

On the 26th of November, from 5:30 till 8:30 was open evening for the upcoming year 10's. Dance strand had a rehearsal from 3:30 till 4:15 to practise the numbers we were going to be performing. The evening started of with a warm up, then we moved onto some ab work and stretching. We performed 'Glam', the 'Suitcase' routine, the 'Refugee' dance and a number of our small groups. In between dancing we continued to stretch while Jodie, Andrea and Hannah made speeches about the course and how to apply. After which we went to talk to the students and parents and answered any questions they had. Overall the evening was a success, as it was the first time we got to perform our routines to audiences, and managed to get a lot of rehearsals done.

Syrian Children

According to the U.N., more than half of all Syrian refugees are under the age of 18. Most have been out of school for months, if not years.

The youngest are confused and scared by their experiences, lacking the sense of safety and home they need. The older children are forced to grow up too fast, finding work and taking care of their family in desperate circumstances.

Rehearsals 20/11/14

Today, we focused on the opening section. Which is based around the different types of people you find in a park. This section is physical theatre, so we got into groups or pairs and started devising. My group is based on a picnic. The characters played in my group are a trouble maker, book worm, control freak, and girly girl. We improvised first to get an idea about what should happen, and then started laying down counts. Andrea also taught us a motif about putting on sun screen, and I made up my own motif as well.

Rehearsals 17/11/14

Today we finished of the 'Glam' routine, there was a middle section missing which we field with partner work, getting ready, and I am doing a phrase which involves flexibility. After which me and Hannah have to exist early as we have a quick change for the 'Packing' routine.


Then we cleaned our small group pieces with the feedback we got from Thursdays assessment. We needed to make our relationships clearer, so Jodie helped us add in more acting. And also helped us develop a section by changing how we order the phrase we perform.


Andrea then went through and cleaned the 'Packing' dance and the 'Refugee' dance as well.

What conditions are refugees facing outside camps?

Some Syrians know people in neighboring countries who they can stay with. But many host families were already struggling on meagre incomes and do not have the room or finances to help as the crisis drags on.
Refugees find shelter wherever they can. People have seen families living in rooms with no heat or running water, in abandoned chicken coops and storage sheds.
Most refugees must find a way to pay rent. Without any legal way to work in Jordan and Lebanon, they struggle to find odd jobs and accept low wages that often don’t cover their most basic needs. The situation is slightly better in the Kurdish Autonomous region of northern Iraq, where Syrian Kurds can legally work. But language is still a barrier.
The lack of clean water and sanitation in crowded, makeshift settlements is an urgent concern. Diseases like cholera and polio can easily spread — even more life-threatening without enough medical services. In some areas with the largest refugee populations, water shortages have reached emergency levels; the supply is as low as 30 liters per person per day — one-tenth of what the average American uses.


The youngest refugees face an uncertain future. Some schools have been able to divide the school day into two shifts and make room for more Syrian students. But there is simply not enough space for all the children, and many families cannot afford the transportation to get their kids to school.

Article

This is relevant because it is the situation Alice's family is in in the show. The sisters of Alice want to go to school but can't, and the mother and father feel helpless as they can't provide.

Dance Assessment Feedback

The feedback was to keep a strong intension between characters and a purpose for doing movements. Clear up the spacing of the group sections, look at the relationship at the end, and to continue to repeat and develop.

Rehearsals 13/11/14

Today in the first session we had an assessment on our small group pieces. And also ran all of the show, we had guests that were watching so they could get an idea of visuals for the back screen. In the second session we finished the 'Packing' routine, by repeating phrases but changing direction, and space.

Syria research

The majority of Syrian refugees are living in Jordan and Lebanon, where Mercy Corps has been addressing their needs since 2012. In the region’s two smallest countries, weak infrastructure and limited resources are nearing a breaking point under the strain.
Since August, more Syrians have escaped into northern Iraq at a newly opened border crossing. In a country that is still recovering from its own prolonged conflict, this influx is dramatic and brings additional challenges. An increasing number of Syrian refugees are fleeing across the border into Turkey, overwhelming urban host communities and creating new cultural tensions. Mercy Corps is working in these areas as well to help families meet their basic needs and find work.

Article

This can be linked to the 'Packing' routine as we are all escaping, and are trying to cross borders. This article is also relevant, as Alice's family will need to try and find work and this could be a part of the ending of the show.

Rehearsals in the Obie 10/11/14

On Monday, we rehearsed in the Obie. This helped us as we knew the space that our show was going to be in. We started of by recapping the phrases we had learned on Thursday, and then moved on to structuring the routine. Mine and Hannah's intension in this dance is that we don't want to pack, as after we would have to leave to go to the refugee camp. So we have to have high energy in fighting over the suitcase. The dance involves choreographic techniques like cannon, levels and different speeds.


In the second half of the lesson we recapped our small group pieces for an assessment on Thursday. So Charlotte and Callie lead the rehearsal, and we showed our small group pieces, and the rest of the dancers gave feedback.

Rehearsals 6/11/14

In todays lesson, we had to bring suitcases in as props for the 'packing' routine. Andrea taught us the choreography, which included picking up the suitcase over our heads, sitting on it, and lunging over it. We then got into threes, I was with Callie and Charlotte, and we labelled ourselves. Charlotte wanted to pack, I didn't and Callie was the negotiator. Me and Callie learnt a duet, which included things like suspension, contact work and floor work. After in our threes we made up 2 counts of 8 about packing. My group included a lot of repetition of packing and unpacking the suitcase.


In the second lesson we recapped our small group pieces for an assessment next Thursday. And had a production meeting where we discussed props, and other ways to raise money like selling candy canes for Christmas.

Rehearsals 3/11/14

In Mondays lesson we learnt a new phrase, which was based on refugee's having to pack to leave home. When refugee's leave home, they feel like they have no choice because they are at risk everyday from the war. However, when leaving they don't know when or if they will ever return. Or what the refugee camp will look like. We have to incorporate all of these feeling into the performance.
In the second half of the lesson we kept running the 'glam' routine going through the counts and exact positions. I need to work on keeping my elbows pinched together on one of the movements, and posture tight. After which we also recapped the first refugee dance.

Cake Sale

On Tuesday the 4th of November, Dance strand had a cake sale. To raise money for our show and War Child. I made Oreo  cupcakes and nearly everyone else brought cupcakes to sell. Tasha and I worked together, and brought in the majority of the money, both explaining the the charity and our show. This helped to spread awareness for both causes. Overall it was a really fun and productive lunch time. Below is a picture of the cakes I made. 

Small Group Choreography

From these videos we can see that the timing needs to be improved, and our spacing. Also on certain moves we are all going different ways, or doing the move slightly differently so we need to correct that. Also, we need to work on using our whole performance space, so our formations fill the whole stage. To make our performance better we need to sustain our characterisation, because at times it is really strong and it needs to be like this the whole way through. To develop our dance further we need to use more repetition, adjust the timings on the unison section, and develop the transition steps.

Rehearsals 16/10/14

In rehearsal today we worked on the 'Glam' routine, and our small group pieces. In the 'Glam' dance we slowly went through the choreography, and after that we kept running the routine, each time afterwards getting notes from the rehearsal directors. We went through the spacing, and certain positions that everyone was doing slightly different moves on. Afterwards it was being to look cleaner, and more dynamic.

Feedback sheet for Group choreography

Today (16/10/14), we had an assessment of our group choreography. The feedback Andrea gave us was to make the weight and speed of our moves more dynamic. We also need to work on using our whole performance space, so our formations fill the whole stage. To make our performance better we need to sustain our characterisation, because at times it is really strong and it needs to be like this the whole way through. To develop our dance further we need to use more repetition, adjust the timings on the unison section, and develop the transition steps.

What happens to Syrians caught in the war?

This war has killed over 190,000 people, the bombings are destroying cities and are violating human rights. Basic necessities like food and medical care are sparse. The U.N. estimates that over 6.5 million people are internally displaced, and this number is quickly increasing, shown in the graph below.

Glam Dance 13/10/14

On Monday we had our first group rehearsal in the morning before school. Then in the lesson we changed the choreography, and added in more sections of  acting. There are a lot of different formations in this dance from a pyramid, to groups and lines. I need to work on not facing the front as often, as well as interact with my group and change my levels. The whole class needs to bring in more clothes to be able to keep busier on stage and have more to do. We need to wear converse or vans for this number too.

Development on Production Role

My production role is makeup, and recently Erin and I have compared mood boards and decided a colour scheme for Syria. We decided it was mainly going to be earthy colours. So we decide we were going to use different shades of browns, to show the contrast to the London dancers. After half term, Erin and I hope to know a colour scheme for London, so we can start looking at products and then plan the looks.

13/10/14 Group Choreography

We finished our small group dance in this lesson, and showed it to Andrea at the end.
The notes she gave us were:

• That the moves need a purpose/meaning
• We need to clean up some of the pathways
• Some of the choreography could be developed further

We are showing everyone on Thursday, so we are going to need to book a studio before then to make these changes.

Contemporary Technique

In contemporary my strengths are the depth of my plié, and my fluidity from doing one move to the next. However I need to work on having more focus when dancing, so I know the direction I am looking at and it has a purpose behind it. I also need to make sure there is more resistance behind my moves. This will make my dancing better because there will be more meaning behind what I am doing, which means a bigger impact on the audience.

Jazz Technique

In our dance lessons recently, we have been practicing and devising our show routines. So we have to be applying feedback we received in our technique classes, as well as the corrections from the dhow dances. My strengths in jazz has been my dynamic range, dancers need good dynamic range, to make it more interesting for them, and the audience to watch. Dynamic range is having fast and slow, or soft and sharp movements. This allows the dance to be more interesting to watch, as if all the movement were fast, it doesn't add the surprise element of what is going to happen next.
So I have been making my movements really sharp and strong, as well as soft and elegant at different points in the routines.


I need to work on my going through my feet on the jumps in the 'refugee dance', and focus on my breathing more as if my muscles don't have oxygen, I won't have enough energy. I need to also make sure that when I am in a jazz fourth, my body and weight is in the correct place.

When did the crisis start?

Anti-government demonstrations began in March of 2011, part of the Arab Spring. But the peaceful protests quickly escalated after the government's violent crackdown, and rebels began fighting back against the regime.
By July, army defectors had loosely organised the Free Syrian Army and many civilian Syrians took up arms to join the opposition. Divisions between secular and Islamist fighters, and between ethnic groups, continue to complicate the politics of the conflict.

Article

This shows that the violence has been going on for quite a few years now, and the publics protests have got more and more violent as time has gone on. We can represent this in our dance to show we are angry, as we are not being listened to. We could also have news articles behind us on the screen while we are dancing, to make people more aware of what is happening. 

Small group choreography 9/10/14

In today's lesson we carried on with our small group pieces, however Callie wasn't here which made it more difficult. Firstly we choreographed a unison section, as previous choreography had just been the children/parents. After we showed Andrea, she told us we were only lacking an elevation and travelling section. So we made up a new section, we changed the formation and direction by travelling down in a diagonal line doing a mixture of jumps, turns, and slides to get us into our next positions.

Choreography 2/10/14

The first thing we did on Thursday was learn a new piece of choreography, it is the part of the show where we are getting ready to go out. The music is Christina Aguilera 'Glam'. This routine is upbeat and fun. However we have to use a lot of different dynamics to make it look strong and powerful.




Afterwards we worked on our small group pieces, we decided to start in a family portrait picture and come out of that into separate groups e.g. children and parents. We tried to change up the rhythm, and add in cannon.

Choreography 6/10/14

Today we structured the 'Glam' routine and brought in clothes to use as props. We had to make up 16 counts of our own getting ready pieces to add onto another section, I tried to use as many different levels as possible to make it more interesting. We also had learned a section about putting your makeup on. Meanwhile the boys were learning another phrase to perform when we exit the stage.


In the second lesson we ran through the refugee dance we learnt, and then worked on our small group pieces. We listened to a piece of music Jodie had chosen for us which had an authentic and homely feel. Then Andrea help us structure the piece to be more playful and homely. We added cannon, and changed up the temp. We want to have children's trains as props or something similar to represent how children love to play.

How are people escaping?

Thousands of Syrians flee their country every day. They often decide to finally escape after seeing their neighbourhoods bombed or family members killed.
The risks on the journey to the border can be as high as staying: Families walk for miles through the night to avoid being shot at by snipers or being caught by soldiers who will kidnap young men to fight for the regime.

Source

This is extremely saddening to read about the people living through the Civil war, even when trying to get out of the country it seems to be terrifying. This can be used in a piece as we can show the struggles to get out of the country and the fear. We could do this by being held back and being aware of kidnappers. We could regularly change the tempos, as one minute could be running from someone, and the next could be hiding and trying to keep safe. This would show the contrast between the first dance of being a happy family, to the fear and having to grow up quickly for the children. And for the parents, being worried about the safety and protection of their children.





Syria Articles and Pictures

There are almost 50,000 Syrian children currently living in the Za’atari camp on the Jordan/Syria border. The camp was first opened in July 2012 to help the thousands of Syrians fleeing the civil war in the country. The camp now houses almost 150,000 people - making it the fourth-largest “city” in Jordan. Save the Children recently partnered with photographer Agnes Montanari and gave some of the children living in the refugee camp cameras to document their new lives. The charity said: “At its most simple the project provides fun and an opportunity to learn new practical skills. It provides children with a focus, a chance to regain confidence and hope, by enabling them to share their stories through photography.” 

Article

This article will help create us a bigger picture of what it is like being a refugee, you can see that even though these people are living in bad conditions they have fun. We need keep that in mind when choreographing.

    

     

Syria Makeup Mood Board

This is the mood board I did for the Syrian makeup, the tonnes are more neutral compared to the London makeup. 

London Makeup Mood Board

This is the mood board I made for the London makeup. This will help Erin and I decide a colour scheme, and what sort of thing we want to do for the makeup. We also need to talk to costume to make sure it matches.

Choreographic Workshop

On Monday, to help everyone choreograph the small group dances more easily, we workshop choreographic devices. I have a list of choreographic devices here. We started using a solo we made up as a base, then we split the routine up into sections and added a different choreographic device to each.




We then taught our solos to each other in our group and blended them together. This formed a much better dance really easily and quickly and it was packed with different choreographic devices. In future, when choreographing, we can use this method to help us and give us a starting point for a routine, which we can then develop further.

Chreographic Devices

Below is a list of ways that will help me, and my group, develop our work and make it longer without choreographing more.

1. Repetition- Repeat the phrase in the same way
2. Retrograde- Perform phrase backwards
3. Inversion- Turn the phrase upside down, for example lying down
4. Size- Condense and expand the motif, try and make it as small as you can, then as big
5. Tempo- Do the phrase as fast or as slow as possible
6. Rhythm- Vary rhythm but not speed
7. Quality- Vary movement quality, for example changing the resistance
8. Instrumentation- Perform motif with different body part
9. Force- Change the force/ resistance you use
10. Background- Change the design for the rest of the body, change lighting or add a set
11. Staging- Perform it in different places, and vary facing the audience
12. Embellishment- Add loops or zigzags as you travel along the path
13. Change of planes or levels- Change the planes (Horizontal or vertical), or on a different level
14. Additive/ Incorporative-  While doing original motif add in a jump or fall
15. Fragmentation- Use only part of the motif
16. Combination- Combine any of the above, so that it happens at the same time

Makeup Preparation

Recently me and Erin have been talking about what makeup looks we want to do for the show. I have been watching tutorials on youtube and instagram to not only get ideas, but to look at how they are applying the makeup as well. 

Child Soldiers

Armed militias in Syria are using children as young as 15 on the front line, sometimes recruiting them under the pretence of providing free schooling, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

One former child soldier, Raed, said he attended training at 16 with around 300 others, many of whom were aged between 12 and 18.

"The leader of the camp said Isis like the younger ones better," Raed explained. "He told me: 'Tomorrow they'll be a stronger leader or a stronger fighter'."

Article

• 
  

  There is estimated to be 250,000 child soldiers in the world. 40% of child soldiers are girls.
• Africa has the largest number of child soldiers. Child soldiers are being used in armed     conflict in Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Sudan.
• Children are used as soldiers because they are easier to condition and brainwash. They don't eat much food, don't need paying much and have an underdeveloped sense of danger so are easier to send into the line of fire.
• Some are abducted from their homes and forced to become soldiers

War Child Article

From reading these articles and watching the video above, I think that we are very lucky to live in this country, as children don't even have to consider becoming a soldier or having to work. I want to incorporate these feelings into the dance, as I imagine becoming a child soldier is scary, especially if your in the front line. I think this would be a really good bases to start a dance off.

Jodies and Andreas Choreography

Recently we have been developing the routine that Jodie choreographed. This routine has a lot of choreographic devices, such as cannon, levels and direction. However, I need to practice the duet with my partner Danielle in order to improve the first section and this will be difficult, as she has broken her thumb.

In Andrea's choreography we have learnt a new section. This has beats of three, so we have to make the dynamics sharp and strong to show the change in dynamics. This section is also in cannon and involves finishing in different directions. This will be even better if we carry on rehearsing to make it clean and sharp.

Child Trio Ideas

This Monday, my group split into a trio, who are going to be the three siblings of the family, and a duet who are to be the parents. I was in the trio and the video above is a work in progress of what we have choreographed so far. We have tried to make it really playful and care free, as we are children before the war. We started choreographing with three words in mind: protected, safe, and comforted. We started improvising with those words in mind; then moved on to making it more childish and fun. We got a lot done during the lesson and the routine went well because of the levels we used, and we bounced of each other's ideas. Next time we need to change a few things that aren't flowing correctly, and also develop the routine to make it longer.

Whats everyday like for a rufugee in Lebanon ?

Lebanon is home to a million Syrian refugees, which is more than any other nation.

Everyday life is hard for them. They awake at dawn and the children feed the goats or the chickens and the women begin to bake flat bread on the back of large round pots, heated underneath by small fires. Men are also busy in the camp, digging better drainage to improve the hygiene. Parent's worries are how to feed the children. If they don't have any food that morning, they might go to a neighbour and bring back a little plate of olives, some bread and tea. As refugees feel like they are one big family, they help each other out. Sadly, the children always ask for more food, just like normal kids, but there isn't anything more.

Life is expensive for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. There are no official refugee camps so they must pay rent for the land their tents are pitched on, plus electricity, water and somebody to take away the refuse. It’s about $1300 a year for a one room tent.

New arrivals are provided with a starter kit of stoves, bedding, blankets and food parcels and sometimes cash for rent. But with the crisis now into its third year, the refugees are struggling. Yet with such a large number of people, most of the refugees have no income. There are healthcare expenses too, from injures living in such a dangerous area.

Some of the other women head off to the fields nearby. Bekaa is farming country and there is day work like picking and cleaning vegetables. The day ends as the rufugees have an evening meal which would probably be either green beans with lemon or green beans without lemon. Then they’ll go to bed. Each night refugees cry themselves to sleep thinking of the parents they left behind in Syria. They are sleeping in tents with six other people, its cramped and they're exhausted.

A refugee called Khairiya  said “Life here doesn’t get worse. It doesn’t get any better either. We just want to go home.”

Source

Costume Responsibilities

On Monday we found out our production roles. My role is Makeup and Costume. I am working with Chey, Lashay, and Erin.  I did a post on the responsibilities of a makeup artist, which is linked here. However, I will also have the responsibilities of a Costume Designer. I have listed some below:




Responsibilities of a Costume Designer

• To have a list of everybody's shoe size, and clothes size
• To make the material able to dance in
• Sketching ideas
• Looking into prices and keeping to a budget
• To make the costumes appropriate to the show
• Research suitable costume styles, fabrics and designs
• Buying or making outfits

Alice Video

In Mondays lesson, we got split into four groups. Each group had a different theme or story. In my group is Hannah, Callie, Charlotte and Laqwarn. Our dance is based on the video 'Alice'. It shows how a girls life has been changed by war. In our first routine, we picked three words: 'Safe' 'Warm' and 'Comfort' to base our motif on. These words are how Alice feels before war. The war in some ways forces her to grow up and she sees things an adult would find hard to cope with, let alone an 8 year old. However, even in our war piece we need to show that they are still children, and no matter what they do, they still play. In our dance we could change the dynamics each time something new gets destroyed, for example: school, home and friends. In our before war dance, we need to show being safe. We could do this by staying close together and the movements having fluidity. In the war dance, we could be further apart and make the dynamics stronger. At the end of our last routine, we need to have an uplifting feel to show there is still hope. We could show this by the music change and elevation in the movements.  



Reflection On First Choreography Task

Today in our groups we had to start creating choreography. Ours is based on a video called 'Alice', which you can watch here. First we decided to make up a count of eight each, and then take moves from each person to create a piece. This started our piece as we had a few ideas to work with. The first piece we wanted to work on was after war had started. Next we worked as a team to create movement, this was easier as we bounced of each other much more and developed movement more easily. After showing Jodie what we had so far we realised we needed to change directions and formations, as this would make it more interesting. Near to the end of the lesson we wrote down ideas we had for next week. We started by writing down words we could base the before war piece on, like home, safe and protection; and we discussed different directions and ideas. Next we worked on the after war piece; again we wrote down ideas and discussed emotions, for example, fear, and what would trigger that.


Next lesson we will continue creating movement. However, we will work on changing directions and formations. We will also use the words we thought of to help us create movement, and when starting to create the other piece, we won't focus on starting at the beginning but just think of ideas and phrases we could add into the piece.

Makeup and Costume

On Monday the 15th of September, we found out our production roles. Mine was the one I applied for, Makeup and Costume. I am working with Chey, Lashay, and Erin. So the first thing we decided to do was split into two teams. Erin and I are doing makeup. Dividing into two teams will help us focus more time into either makeup or costume, hopefully making our work better. We will talk about our ideas as a group to have a range of opinions, then split into two teams to work on the ideas. As being in charged of all makeup for the show, Erin and I have a lot of responsibilities.
Some of which are listed below:




Responsibilities Of a Makeup Artist

• To make sure no one is allergic to the makeup
• To have the correct shades for each person
• To have planned out the products we will be using and have tested them
• To have and keep to the budget
• To have all the prices listed and get the best offer
• Reading scripts/knowing the plot to ascertain the materials and the look required
• Work through budget implications
• Identifying areas where research is required
• Completing face charts and designs for reference
• Liaising with other members of the design team to ensure the overall look/effect is consistent
• Demonstrating and implementing a practical understanding of lighting, the photographic process, colours and the impact of special effects/make-up processes on the skin
• Maintaining awareness of health and safety issues and legislation
• Ordering materials and equipment
• Time management, knowing how long a subject will take to be made-up
• Working quickly and accurately in time-pressured conditions
• Taking detailed notes and photographs of work, maintaining an up-to-date portfolio of work

We also have to think about ideas for fundraising, as part of the money we raise will also go to War Child. One of my fundraising ideas was to have a mufti day of a certain colour, and everybody could donate a pound. Or we could perform one of the routines at lunch time, and see how much we can raise!

Choreography

In our past two dance lessons, we have been learning choreography for our show. The first section we learned was contemporary; the moves could represent escaping, as children that live through the war might feel like their only option is to run away from home. A law in the Middle East is if you do run away you are sent to prison. The second section we learnt could represent how children are resilient, as the dynamics change to bold and fast; this section is more jazz. The difference in the two dance styles, is like the difference to what the Middle East was like before and after the war.