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World class skaters coming to CN Centre
| Source: |
Prince George Free Press |
| Date: |
November 18, 2010 |
| Author: |
Teresa Mallam |
He's a four time world skating champion, four time Canadian national
champion and first to land a quadruple jump in competition but Kurt
Browning has never forgotten his fans. Now the master of fancy
footwork is on tour and hosting the popular Battle of the
Blades.
He also mentors a younger generation of skaters.
"It's all about you guys (fans.) It's a lot of fun for us to do the
shows but good gosh it's a whole lot more fun if people come out to
watch them," he said. Browning was shooting a segment for Battle of
the Blades Monday and took time for an interview with the Free
Press.
Sunday, Dec. 5 he joins a stellar line-up of skaters including pairs
champs Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, Joannie Rochette, Jeffrey
Buttie and Steven Cousins for Holiday Festival of Ice at CN
Centre.
"This is a Christmas show and usually the skaters have one program
that is Christmas oriented and one that is not,‘ he said. My
solos?
"This year I will have one Christmas program. It's called River by
Joni Mitchell, a beautiful, beautiful tune but I'm having it resung by
a good friend of mine, Geoffrey Tyler. It's about skating on the
river," he said. "The second one, ironically, is sung by the same guy
and it's my big number this year. I'm calling it Being Kurt Browning -
taken from the movie Being John Malkovitch. You can hear my thoughts
running through the whole thing. It's to the song Stepping Out and
hopefully it's a bit of a chuckle. I brought it the orchestra and had
them retool it and the lyrics have been changed and I hope that it's
so much fun."
Browning married Sonia Rodriguez, principal dancer with National
Ballet of Canada, in 1996. They have two sons, Gabriel and
Dillon.
Are the boys learning to skate?
"My wife Sonia and I are so busy but we're trying - they're not on the
ice as much as I would like. One (Dillon) is just three. My oldest,
The seven-year-old is just starting, he's always asking to go skating
and looking at me 'like why aren't you teaching me to skate?' I didn't
get figure skates until I was 11 and I really couldn't skate at all
until I was eight years old. So there are no rules as far as I'm
concerned."
How do the kids like their Dad's fame?
"To be honest, kids are so adaptable that when they see me hosting
Battle of the Blades or see me in a show with 12,000 people watching,
it's just normal. That's what Dad does. My older son likes it that I'm
famous. Once he said to me, I'm famous because you are and I'm your
son, and I said (jokingly), 'Get your own fame. This is mine.'"
Being on tour for the ice show and performing with other skaters is
much like a family reunion, he says.
"We're like family. It's like my high school never ended with these
people and also I'm always on the ice with very young people. I'm 44
now - and the average age I get to work with is 14. I'm on the ice
with little kids and get to work with brand new fresh sparkling
champions. Like Jeffery Buttle at the (2008) World Champions. You look
at him - with all that great hair on his head (he laughs) - and think
back to the first time I heard the words World Champion."
Browning is happy about his skating tour, but thrilled about upcoming
episodes of Battle of the Blades.
"I'm so excited about (what) we were shooting today," he said. "Even
the camera looks like a space age super jet fighter from outer
space. I've done this for so long and I was doing toe steps across the
ice but instead of trying to be as light as possible, I was digging in
my skates and the snow was flying off the blades, spraying the
camera. I had a hockey stick in my hand and it was in super
slo-mo(tion) so it literally makes a curtain of white and with the
hockey stick sticking up through it, it looks almost like a
ghost. It's going to be fun to watch. Not to mention the show's
competitors who have gotten hurt, changed their lives and left behind
their families all these weeks so they could do this."
The segment with the special effects airs Sunday night on CBC TV and
"it's going to be so cool" says Browning.
Kurt Browning and the rest of the Holiday Festival on Ice cast will
perform at CN Centre Sunday, Dec. 5. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Show
starts at 7:30 p.m. The show is sponsored by Northland Dodge. Tickets
are on sale at all Ticketmaster locations.
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