Shopping With: Sonia Rodriguez

Ballerina Sonia Rodriguez has a gift list as long as her arm and it isn't even shopping season yet. No, the generous National Ballet principal dancer is in the habit of gifting her co-stars.

"My husband and I did this for a show last year," she says as we take a cab to Bloor Street in Toronto. The husband is figure skater Kurt Browning and they've just collaborating on Gotta Skate, a television special that airs later this month and in December. "We like to give a little token."

That means a little something for Lu Chen, Josee Chouinard, Isabelle Brasseur and Elena Berezhnaya. On the ballet front, Aleksandar Antonijevic and Keiichi Hirano are in line.

So, with this much to do, the Toronto-born, Madrid-raised Rodriguez resorts to trusty habit: shopping with her baby sister. Only this time, Vanessa Rodriguez has just emigrated to Canada and landed a sales job at Club Monaco. "I love shopping with her. We're both the same size," she says as we enter. That would be that mythic size zero most of us sneer at. But it's hard to sneer at the two brunette beauties in a sisterly hug. It's remarkable that Sonia has time to see her sister, let alone shop.

In addition on Gotta Skate, which was filmed Nov. 1, the 12-year National Ballet star (she was made principal dancer in 2000) performs at the Hummingbird Centre in The Firebird tonight and Nov. 30, La Bayadere tomorrow, Nov. 28 and Nov. 30, and in La Fille Mal Garde on Nov. 23. Then there's the Nutcracker next month.

No wonder the tiny perfect dancer moves fast, zeroing in on cozy scarves for her skating posse. Practical, yet at $70, quite luxurious. Rodriguez is known for this kind of balance. Adept at the acting side of ballet, critics praise her for bringing a strong emotional quality to her technical proficiency.

I ask her to name the best gift she ever received. Despite her chunky diamond ring and the heart-shaped diamond pendant that blinded me when she removed her pink pashmina, Rodriguez's choice is pure romance. For their sixth anniversary, Browning gave her a framed animation cel of Bambi doing the splits on ice.

"When we first met, it was at the Glenore Club in Edmonton. I had gone there for a reception and I asked if I could watch a skate. He asked if any of us wanted to try. I said yes, but being from Spain, I told him I never skated. He thought I meant I never skated much. He had to hold me the whole time. He let go of me once and I went into the splits. He said, 'You're just like Bambi.' That's our first memory together."

While hopping from display to display, the sisters decide to widen the shopping net and shop for their parents' anniversary. They fondle a large black purse. "She might think it's too big. But the bigger the purse, the more things you put in it, right?" Vanessa says of the $129 bag.

Sonia moves on to the next gift, a red-brown bag for Gotta Skate choreographer LeAnn Miller. "I'll get another from the showroom," Vanessa says. She's already noticed that her sis has spotted a scratch and wants a fresh one.

Back to the scarves for Rodriguez. "These are fun to have around the rink" -- they're there for five or six hours a day. "The white one for Elena -- she's quieter, more reserved. Josee is the red -- she's bubbly. Lulu gets the two-toned -- she has two sides to her. Before the party and when the party starts," she says, laughing at her pop psychology.

Her cellphone rings from inside her chic little Prada black purse. "It's my hubby!" she squeals, her feet actually leaving the floor. "Are you going to come over?"

Seems Browning has been out of town for a whole four days. "This is me getting used to the winter tour season, which starts Dec. 26. He'll be gone for five months!"

We head over to the men's area. Oh, and if Rodriguez's Fille Mal Gardee partner Keiichi Hirano is reading this, stop. We don't want to ruin your surprise. You're the only one who won't have received your gift at press time.

Browning often takes Vanessa out shopping behind Sonia's back. The latest triumph: a black leather coat from Gucci. "He's really good at buying me clothes," Sonia says.

The siblings search for stuff for dad in the hats and scarves area. And they consider something striped for Hirano before heading back to the women's section.

Vanessa shows us the Sonia sweater, not named for this Sonia, but cool nonetheless. She doesn't bite. I pull out a pretty T-shirt with chiffon cap sleeves and ribbon at the waist. "That's called the ballet top," Vanessa reports. Sonia, the real deal, gets enough ribbon and tulle at work. "I need a bigger closet," she says. "My husband takes up more than half!"

As if on cue, Browning himself bounds through the store and scoops up his delicate bride in a squishy bear hug. "Hey, cute shirt," he says.

"I bought it in Spain. I don't tell you everything," she says, her eyes playing the flirt.

"It keeps the relationship fresh," Browning says to me, playing the comic. He flings Vanessa's chunky scarf around his neck and drags her away to try on a few things.

I mention the Gucci coup. "That was her fault," he says, motioning to Vanessa. "She found the James Bond chick coat. Her finder's fee was a pair of Gucci glasses. We also got Brian Orser see-through Gucci underwear for his 40th birthday."

After three slapstick attempts at leaving -- it's as though the charmed cashier has built in three encores by leaving beeper tags on -- the bag-laden duo heads into the night.