Becoming Lemonade Dream: Alumna Alex On Discovering a Passion for Poetry at DC SCORES
Since performing for the first time with DC SCORES, Alex has become a rising star of D.C.’s poetry scene.
Poet-athlete Alex is no stranger to the spotlight.
At just 16 years old, she’s already a prolific performer. Under the moniker Lemonade Dream, she has shared her poetry on numerous stages across DC, including Arena Stage, Audi Field, and the Lincoln Theater; been selected for the 2024 Words, Beats & Life DMV Slam team; and released a musical single.
And it all began on a DC SCORES slam stage.
“Without DC SCORES, Lemonade Dream wouldn’t be doing Lemonade Dream,” says Alex.
Poet-Activist
Alex got her first taste of performance poetry in 2019, when she delivered the solo poem for KIPP DC WILL Academy at the DC SCORES Middle School Slam.
“I was freaking out on the bus!” she recalls of the hours leading up to her performance. “I was very, very nervous,” she adds, “but it all ended up going great.”
Alex’s poem explored the impact of bullying and called upon the audience to respect people of all backgrounds, regardless of race, gender, or sexuality.
Activism has since become a throughline message in her work, she says. “Whether it’s power to the people, Black Lives Matter, if it’s women’s rights, if it’s about rights in general, if it’s about domestic violence, I like to talk about things that need awareness brought to them,” she explains.
When young people broach these topics, adults are often dismissive, she says. But, “there’s things that we go through and, with poetry, I’m able to put those things into words.”
“Not only am I able to do that at 15, but there’s younger kids that are able to do that as well, and express their emotions in a way that doesn’t get them in some type of juvenile detention center, like lashing out or suppressing emotions,” she adds. “It’s a beautiful way of putting our feelings into words.”
Lemonade Dream
When you’re a kid on stage, it’s easy to give in to impostor syndrome, but Alex has found a way to beat the performance nerves: an alter ego she calls Lemonade Dream.
“Lemonade Dream is not necessarily me,” she explains, likening it to Beyoncé’s Sasha Fierce, the superstar musician’s confident, self-assured stage persona.
“[Lemonade Dream] is me when I perform,” Alex says.
It is Lemonade Dream who Alex channelled last year when she got up on stage for her first-ever performance at Our Words Our City, DC SCORES’ premier youth poetry showcase.
The event features performances from poet-athletes in the Youth Word Project, DC SCORES’ enhanced poetry program, who share the stage with some of the nation’s top spoken word artists.
Alex said she was initially nervous about the event, which also featured bestselling author Jason Reynolds, National Slam Champion Jacob “Black Chakra” Mayberry, International Slam Champion Gayle Danley, and D.C. Councilmember and DC SCORES alumna Janeese Lewis George.
“And then, I was like, what was I nervous about?” she says. “All the people that I know, that I love, are here!”
Creative Connections
Lemonade Dream is rapidly becoming a fixture of the DMV poetry scene. She is a regular at open mic nights around the city and has even hosted her own poetry and arts events.
She believes D.C.’s scene can’t be beat.
“I’m gonna have to gas [D.C.] up a little bit, but I like that it’s not the same as every other city,” she says. “I feel like our music, our culture, the way we talk, our slang, like everything about D.C. is beautiful in a way.”
As a more seasoned performer, Alex has taken on a mentorship role for the young poet-athletes in the Youth Word Project. Part of why she connects so well with them is that, just as her DC SCORES poetry coaches approach her, she never dismisses what they have to say because they are children.
“People think they’re above people in a way when they get older,” she says. “But I see the little kids like Carter [a fourth-grader in the program] and I’m like, she’s not just a little kid. She’s a person like me.”
“I like being able to hear the way they write, hear the way they think,” she adds. “Being in spaces with different artists is just what does it for me every single time.”
