From the outside, Jean Kennedy seems like an ordinary
teenage girl, but the medals and accolades on the walls of her sitting room
tell a different story. As I arrive, Jean is sitting on the couch with her
boyfriend and immediately offers to make tea. As she puts the kettle on we chat
about normal teenage things; friends, college (Jean is doing Biology and PE
teaching in DCU), family, boyfriends- it almost seems hard to believe that a
mere two weeks ago Jean placed third in the Irish dancing World Championships.
Immediately it becomes evident that Irish dancing has always played a huge part
in her life.
Named after Riverdance legend Jean Butler, Jean
started her dancing career at the age of four and has never looked back. Not
one to rest of her accomplishments, Jean also has a black belt in karate and
has participated in karate championships all over the world, from Scotland to
Japan. So how does she manage to do it all, and do it all so well?
“Preparing for a huge championship involves so much
more than just going to dance classes every week,” Jean says. “I lose myself
and could spend three hours in the studio just focusing on one dance. So how
does she prepare for such big competitions? “Every year my teachers at Lynam
(Jean’s dance school) help me choreograph new steps to perform at the worlds.
Then once you’ve learnt the steps, you concentrate on perfecting them,
digesting every move, examining the biomechanics of the dance and altering your
moves to land the double spin, jump an inch higher and get an extra tap in per
second. This is the part of preparation I enjoy most.”
“Once the technique
is ready, it’s time to look good. The judges and audience want to see a
performance. It is the very same situation in kata (karate displays). They want
to look up on stage and see someone enjoying themselves. A smile, an attitude,
our own individual style.”
“You’re mentally preparing for those few but crucial
minutes on stage to show off what you have spent years preparing for.”
Jean’s eyes immediately light up as she talks about
her dancing and it is clear that it remains as important to her as it has since
the day she started.
But what about her social life? Does performing at
such a high level not stop her from doing other things? “A little, but to be
honest I like it that way. If you want your body to perform to its maximum
ability and you care about the competitions you’re not going to be out partying
while training.”
“My social life is based around my dancing friends
because we are together so often and share the same interests, although we
don’t go out coming up to worlds or regionals we sure make up for it afterwards
and have a dancers night out to celebrate!”
The pressure of performing at a world-class standard
in either dancing or karate must take its toll, but Jean handles it with
incredible ease. When I ask her this Jean sips on her tea and says, “I love
looking at old photos related to my sport. It reminds me of why I’m still at it
and makes me realise how far I’ve come. I’d watch Youtube clips of World Karate
Championships or stalk some famous dancer on Facebook so I can aspire to what I
could become if I keep improving.”
Jean’s Irish dancing teacher Carmel Manton-Kinsella
puts Jean’s success down towards her attitude and determination. “Jean has
outstanding natural ability-but it is her attitude that sets her apart. She
takes criticism on the chin and comes back the next day working harder on it
than ever before.”
Clearly driven by her goals, I ask Jean has she any
words of advice for other young people on how to achieve their goals. “I think
young people spend so much time analysing other people’s lives and comparing it
to their own on Facebook Instagram etc. When you’re young and don’t have too
many responsibilities you should make the most of it… Focus on yourself, try to
build on your character to be a nicer person.”
“Remember your family, coaches and close friends will
help you to reach your goals but 99% of the work is up to you!
“Life is a journey to allow you to create the greatest
version of yourself, success is so self-rewarding and working hard to achieve
these goals makes them worth every second.”
Jean flashes one of those world-championship winning smiles
and says, “The next time you feel like you’re not progressing or moving forward
just think of the great words of Leslie Chow, ‘Oh you’re having a bad day? …
But did you die?’”
She is truly an inspirational young role model.
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