April & May 2019

in many ways, jackson o’brien — jax to his friends — is a normal
16-year-old kid. A sophomore at Lower Cape May Regional High
School, he enjoys hanging with friends and going for food at 5
West Pub. Then there’s the flipside of Jackson — the phenom.
At a recent dance competition in Somerset, New Jersey, against
more than 500 entries, he won the whole contest. This July, he’ll
compete at nationals in Atlantic City.
“Maybe once every 20 years you’ll see a boy like Jackson
come along,” says Amy Young, owner of Cape May Dancers,
where Jackson trains. “He’s as good, right now, as a Broadway
dancer. It’s just a matter of when he chooses to audition.”
While most promising young dancers excel at one style —
modern, tap, hip hop or ballet — Jackson is at home in any category.
And then, according to his instructors, it’s his drive that
takes him to the next level.
“Even though he was the best, he’s going to work even
harder now,” Amy says. “That’s Jackson. Even as a little kid, he
was always striving to be better. He has an unmatched passion
and work ethic, and that’s going to take him so far.”
We sat down with Jackson to discuss this love affair with
dance, his future ambitions, and some other thoughts from one
of the coolest kids on the Cape…
You broke your ankle! How’d that happen? I did a backflip
off a trampoline at dance and rolled my foot when I landed.
The doctors said I chipped a bone, but they were more worried
about my ligaments because my ankle swelled so much.
How long are you sidelined? About a month, to be safe.
The first time I broke my ankle, I thought it would take forever,
but two weeks after getting out of the boot I was back to normal.
Hopefully this will be the same because by the time I’m off
crutches it will be recital season.
Exactly how many times have you broken an ankle? I rolled
the left ankle in eighth grade. In September of the same year
I broke the right one doing a leap. I rolled the right one really
badly at a competition rehearsal, so that was a couple weeks in
a lace-up ankle thing. Then, at the end of March, this fracture.
Do you go crazy when you aren’t able to dance? Injuries
are so inevitable that, no matter how severe, I’m like, “Oh, I’m
fine!” It’s when I’m back home that I get scared I won’t dance
for a long time.
INTRODUCING...
Jackson O’Brien, the teenage
dance phenom who plans to flip,
axel, cakewalk and barrel jump all
the way to Broadway.
interview diane stopyra
photography suzanne kulperger
Did you always dream of being a dancer? My mom says
when I was young I’d twirl around our living room and never stop