I started performing Spoken Word at Harvard during the summer’s Freshman Urban Program. Spoken Word is a broad, hard to define term for performance poetry that usually falls somewhere between standard poetry and rap. Since then, I have fallen in love with this campus’s spoken word community. It has been a blessing to be able to share my pieces at different events, such as at Spoken Word Society Open Mics and Women in Color Coffeehouse Nights.
Describe your current artistic project.
The Vagina Monologues was at the Agassiz Theater last week, and I performed a monologue about birth. Being a part of The Vagina Monologues has been a wildly wonderful experience, and I appreciate that all of the money goes to end violence against women, which in our case means giving the proceeds from ticket sales to Boston Rape Crisis Centers in the area.
Harvard alum and dancer Ryuji Yamaguchi ’03 remarked that “Harvard has a dance program that is primarily extracurricular and open to the student body.” Do you feel this is true of other artistic endeavors at Harvard?
It seems like Harvard students are itching for more creative outlets. They need to spend time on artistic pursuits in order to keep themselves sane! Most of the creative opportunities at Harvard, whether taking a West African dance class or attending a Spoken Word event, are open to everyone, which is wonderful. I do think that it is unfortunate that students who are artistic often spread themselves too thin. When it comes time to decide on their priorities, their art tends to come last, even though it may be what they need to keep everything else in order. Many times during this first semester, I felt too crazed to write or dance, especially when there were so many other things going on.
What do you find rewarding about performing spoken word? What motivates you to perform such personal art?
Spoken word is so noncompetitive! People who come to spoken word events tend to be very supportive people who are interested in other people’s lives. To quote the title of a Spoken Word Society open mic event, reading poetry is about “speaking life”. I love how I can get up in front of a group of strangers, speak from my own point of view and realize that the themes of humanity woven through the poetry allows everyone in the room to relate in their own way to what I am saying. You just feel so connected and in tune with the world and the people around you!
Describe your creative process in conceiving of a theme for spoken word compositions. Do you have any quirky creative practices?
I tend to write late at night (or early in the morning) in messy handwriting. Rarely do I type my poetry immediately; I usually write it out by hand. Often I jot down notes to myself when listening to other people read their poetry. Absorbing their rhythms and words tends to trigger my urge to write.
What’s the most inspiring locale on campus?
I don’t know what I would consider most inspiring, but I do love Spoken Word Monday night writing workshops—it’s open to everyone and we have time to reflect, think about the past week, do a writing exercise and get feedback from other people about our writing. It’s all students, it’s rejuvenating and I love it!
What has been your most fulfilling artistic or academic experience?
Earlier this school year, I performed a piece at the Harvard Foundation’s Complexities of Color event that felt like a turning point for me in terms of my poetry. The piece incorporated singing, narrative, Hebrew, Ewe (one of the major languages spoken in Ghana), and English. I had been missing Ghana, where I lived for part of last year, and I felt so much calmer once I figured out how to express my feelings.
How has Harvard been a home to you? Has being here changed you, and how do you anticipate four years at Harvard will affect you or your performance art?
I am starting to truly feel like a part of the Harvard community—it is hard to define, but I love being able to walk around campus and constantly see people I know, at least on some level. But I dislike the level of anxiety that sometimes permeates the air around midterms and finals periods, for example. At those times everyone’s stress rubs off on everyone else! Having just seen my first set of stressful finals period at Harvard, I think spoken word is going to become an increasing outlet for me to express myself in a nonacademic pursuit. Over the next four years I hope I have the courage and creativity to be honest in my poetry and not be afraid to try new styles.
Describe yourself or your art in five words.
Compassionate, goofy, extroverted, curious, sensitive.
Where do you imagine yourself in ten years?
Ten years? Hmmmm…married, maybe, and teaching in a Ghanaian secondary school during the summers, teaching sex ed and doing education policy in Washington, D.C. during the year, or working as a doctor somewhere exciting. Or even college counseling or still deciding what I want to do with my life! Who knows? I have a hard enough time planning a semester!
Which do you prefer: performing your own material or acting out a role written by another director?
Performing my own material is fun because whoever is listening knows that this is from your mind and heart, not another writer’s. At the same time, it’s such a cool feeling to be acting out a role written by another director, get into character and have the lines you memorized begin to feel like your own. So there are pros and cons of each. Performing a personal piece can be draining, though, because it leaves you vulnerable; you cannot hide; what you have just shared is by you, not from some other person. Also, a lot of facial expression keeps people engaged, and keeping up a high level of energy is tiring.
What is your most interesting performance moment?
In the eighth grade I was performing a monologue for a History Fair, and part of my backdrop fell and hit one of the elderly judge’s legs! She ended up being carted away on a stretcher and I somehow managed to stop my sobbing long enough to perform the monologue.
—-Vinita Alexander
