by Valerie DeBrita
Have you ever decided to get one of those rubbery, bouncy balls out of the vending machines and then curiosity got the best of you? You chuck it with all your might down the narrowest, longest hallway imaginable. You watch as it its the left wall, shooting to the ceiling, then rocketing to the right wall traveling ever faster with all this catastrophic energy.
She’s outrageous. As well as funny, warm spirited, zany, VOCAL, curious, a personality with so much energy bubbling over, infecting everyone around. She’s full of charisma, she is real, and she’s full of life; shes’ Alix Olson.
Olson visited the Johnson State College Community to take part in the annual ally dinner, doing what she does best. Olson performs her poetry on topics ranging from patriarchy, sexuality and capitalism. Proving that the once taboo word vagina can be used more than twenty times in less than five minutes. Try it, you’ll feel free, maybe even invigorated.
Olson engages, challenges and captivates folks all over the world with her honest, enthusiastic and raw ideas. But it’s not only what Olson says that leaves a mark on you; it is how she delivers her performance that makes it so memorable. It is almost as if her body is taken over by something foreign. At ties, she clenched the microphone, she closed her eyes, she opened them real wide, hands motioning, gesticulating, all of Olson is passionately involved - she feels it.
America’s On Sale: “Nike bought the revolution/Law school bought the Constitution/Tommy Hilfiger bought the Red White ‘n’ Blue/A flag shirt for fifty dollars/The one being burned is you! MasterCard bought the national soul/Broadway bought talent and called it CATS!/ The Republicans bought the Democrats!/ America’s on sale!/ (Restrictions may apply if you’re black, gay or female...)”
The spoken word artist describes her poetry as “energizing,” so does her audience. Olson lit my mental fire, with her powerful and visionary performance. She left me in a wake of grins, wanting more. She’s outrageous. As well as funny, warm spirited, zany, VOCAL, curious, a personality with so much energy bubbling over, infecting everyone around. She’s full of charisma, she is real and she’s full of life; she’s Alix Olson.