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Love, Canadian Style
Browning and Rodriguez choreograph a beautiful relationship
| Source: |
Centre of the City |
| Date: |
January 2007 |
| Author: |
Susan O'Neill |
On stage she is the Sugar Plum Fairy.
On ice he is a four-time world and four-time Canadian figure skating
champion.
But at home, with their three-year-old son Gabriel, Sonia Rodriguez
and Kurt Browning are just like any other couple and any other mom and
dad.
In fact, when it was pointed out to Browning that an article about the
couple would appear in this magazine alongside profiles of some of
Toronto's successful celebrity couples his reaction was: "A celebrity
couple? That's pretty funny."
However, as a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and
a figure skater once voted the country's greatest athlete, Rodriguez
and Browning have undoubtedly reached the pinnacle of their respective
professions.
"We both have jobs that are quite limited on time and how long our
bodies can do this...we both decided this is the time," Rodriguez said
in an interview from the couple's Toronto home. "With that comes a lot
of strain, trying to balance everything...it gets hectic. But when
we're home, we're home with each other. I try not to mix work with my
family time."
Rodriguez, who was rehearsing for the annual rendition of The
Nutcracker, admitted that some times of the year are "crazier" than
others and said finding time to spend together is "just a matter of
keeping your priorities straight and trying to focus.
"I think it's all relative," added Browning, who was packing for a
trip to New York City where he was scheduled to appear the following
morning on NBC's The Today Show to promote Gotta Skate VI, a
television special that aired on NBC in mid-December.
"I can't find my blue pants for The Today Show," he said. "I'll be out
there with no pants."
For the record, Browning managed to avert the potential wardrobe
crisis and skated flawlessly on the Rockefeller Centre rink the next
morning.
The world renowned figure skater has certainly come a long way since
he first laced up his skates as a child growing up in Caroline,
Alberta.
Browning made his mark on the figure skating world at the 1988 World
Championships in Budapest, Hungary where he landed the first quadruple
jump ever in competition, a feat listed in the Guinness Book of World
Records.
Browning went on to win four world championships and four Canadian
championships in his amateur career. He represented Canada at three
Olympic Games, and although an Olympic medal eluded him, Browning was
inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and Canada's Figure
Skating Hall of Fame in 2000.
He continues to tour professionally, although not as often as he once
did.
Browning used to pack his bags and be gone seven or eight months of
the year.
"I used to leave Boxing Day and be home three or four full days until
the middle of May," he said.
This year, that's changing. He's home for several weeks in January and
February and at least one week in both March and April.
And the summers are his, he said, noting that he takes the time off
and is just a husband and dad to the couple's son.
"It keeps you young," said Sonia of being a mom.
"We're both very fortunate. We've had a good support group," Rodriguez
said. "When we had Gabriel we had some help."
The couple had an excellent nanny and her mother moved to Toronto from
Spain,
"We have people you can feel very comfortable and at ease with," she
said, adding that she never worries when she has to leave Gabriel, "So
you can focus on what you're doing."
The extra help also makes a difference when the couple just needs a
break or a night out together, she said.
"It makes a huge difference," said the Toronto-born Rodriguez who
moved to Madrid, Spain at the age of five.
Rodriguez studied dance at Princess Grace Academy in Monaco and with
Pedro de la Cruz in Madrid. She won the Enrico Cecchetti award at the
international competition in Capri in 1989 and joined the National
Ballet of Canada in 1990.
Rodriguez, whose sister Vanessa is also here in the city, was promoted
to second soloist in 1995, to first soloist in 1997 and to principal
dancer in 2000.
Her principal roles include Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, the title role
in Giselle, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Princess Aurora in The
Sleeping Beauty, Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew and the title role
in Cinderella.
The couple, who celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary last June,
met in Edmonton "a million years ago," Browning said.
Rodriguez was in town with the ballet. She was 18 at the time.
"We were at a reception but I didn't even know the National Ballet was
at this reception," Browning said, adding that Rodriguez wasn't even
supposed to be there.
"We ended up meeting...she was curious about skating," he said, so he
invited her and a group to the rink the next day.
"We kind of met just accidentally," he said, adding that the pair
eventually ended up living in the same city about a year
later.
"A lot of things had to happen (for us to end up together)," said
Browning, who proposed to Rodriguez in front of a crowd of 15,000
people at Maple Leaf Gardens.
"That was not planned," he said.
"I skated better than I thought I was going to skate for the way I
felt that day," he added, recalling that he was on the ice with a
microphone taking questions from the audience while waiting for Scott
Hamilton to take the ice.
"One of the questions from a young girl was, 'Was I married?' And that
led to me introducing my girlfriend," he said.
The next thing he knew, he was proposing.
"I had no ring. I had nothing," he said.
Rodriguez, who was seated in the crowd, said she was embarrassed, not
by the question, but by being introduced before such a large
audience.
"I kept thinking, 'I'm going to kill him'...I was quite
overwhelmed...it was pretty exciting...we made the 10 top stories in
the news...he couldn't have planned it better," she said of her hubby,
who's been figure skating since the age of 11.
Browning turned 40 last summer.
"It had to happen. It's fine...we had a good party," he said.
Browning's fortieth was just one reason to celebrate last year, which
Rodriguez described as "a big year" for the family.
Along with his birthday and their tenth wedding anniversary, they
moved into a new home and Browning completed his first book titled A
is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet.
"I wish it was my idea," he said of the children's alphabet book about
skating.
He was approached by Sleeping Bear Press to write the story.
"I enjoyed it so much," he said.
In fact, he and Rodriguez are in the process of completing another
alphabet book called B is for Ballet, which is about dancing.
"It is fun," Rodriguez said of having the opportunity to work together
on a project.
That's something that doesn't happen often, she said, noting that both
keep busy schedules.
"It is a little busy," said Rodriguez, who danced the role of the
Sugar Plum Fairy in the National Ballet of Canada's performance of The
Nutcracker in December.
Looking ahead, things are about to become busy once again, she said,
noting that the company's March season brings performances of The
Taming of the Shrew, among others.
"It's again, busy. The only saving grace with my job is that we're
here in Toronto so one of us is here...and Kurt has slowed down a
lot...it's more important to do jobs that don't take you away for so
long," she said as her husband packed his bags.
Browning was about to embark on a tour of the province with his
Celebration on Ice show and his schedule also kicks into high gear
this spring.
He's off touring with Stars on Ice in the United States in March,
providing commentary for NBC in Japan and then back to Canada to tour
with Stars on Ice here.
Browning is also doing some choreography for several skaters including
French figure skating star Brian Joubert, who is cleaning up this
season.
"He's landing three quads in one long program," Browning said. "He's
on a roll...it's pretty exciting to have a program that I
choreographed that's winning."
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