|
|
|
CANADIAN BROWNING GETS CLOSE TO HOME WITH SEATTLE STOP ON `ICE' TOUR.(What's Happening).
| Source: |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Date: |
January 3, 1997 |
| Author: |
Judi Hunt |
When he bounds onto the ice tomorrow at Seattle's KeyArena, four-time
world champion figure skater and newlywed Kurt Browning will be about
as close to his native Canada as he will get before the
spring.
Married in July to Sonia Rodriguez, he hasn't had much time for family
life at the couple's home in Caroline, Alberta. Shortly after their
wedding, Browning began practicing for the "Discover Stars on Ice"
tour with other international skating celebrities, including Kristi
Yamaguchi and Scott Hamilton. The 60-city tour began on Nov. 30 in
Lake Placid, N.Y.
The skaters will be fresh as new-fallen snow, however, because Seattle
is only the fifth city in which they will have performed the stylishly
choreographed numbers that have made "Discover Stars on Ice" popular
for 11 years.
While Yamaguchi and Hamilton get a lot of the glory, many fans will be
coming to see Browning, who thrust Canada into the limelight when he
became the first skater ever to successfully complete a quadruple jump
in world competition.
He stunned audiences with his feat during the 1988 World Championships
in Budapest, Hungary, which earned him a place in the Guinness Book of
Records.
He is happy he didn't pursue his other dreams of being a professional
golfer or an ice hockey player.
"Thank God I didn't," he allowed to friends during the preparation for
the current tour.
But he still would jump (pun intended) at the chance to spend a day
aboard the starship Enterprise.
"That would be how I would spend my ideal day," he said.
Asked what talent he would have wanted if he weren't an ice skater,
Browning said he would like the ability to fly. Some fans already
think he has that skill, as evidenced in his dramatic,
"reach-to-the-sky" jumps.
Early in his career as a brash Westerner from a tiny foothills town,
his moves on the ice were described as "raw, confident and powerful."
His jumps are so skillfully executed now that "raw" doesn't fit
anymore, many skating fans believe. But he is still powerful and
confident.
Although the production company doesn't have a theme for this show or
go into any great details about the skaters' different numbers, they
do reveal Browning will skate to the music of Nat King Cole.
He'll also join the full cast in opening the 7:30 p.m. show tomorrow
with a modern symphonic work as yet unnamed, and again for the
finale. The latter is described as a comedy character piece featuring
music such as "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Love is a Many
Splendored Thing."
Solo highlights will include Hamilton skating to Pavarotti's "Barber
of Seville," Yamaguchi performing to Celine Dion's"Natural Woman,"
Paul Wylie using Bach as background music and three-time U.S. National
Champion Jill Trenary whirling to a Nancy Sinatra number.
This also will be the first chance local skating fans will get to see
Ekaterina Gordeeva since the death of her pairs skating partner and
husband Sergei Grinkov in November 1995.
The pair skated for the former Soviet Union before joining "Discover
Stars on Ice" in 1991.
Other highlights include scores from Scott Joplin, Yo-Yo Ma and
Rachmaninoff. The audience also will be treated to a number
choreographed by Torvill and Dean, including most of the cast in a
finale to the first act.
The tour is produced by IMG, which says it is the world's largest
sports marketing organization. Hamilton and Byron Allen are tour
producers; Robert D. Kain and Gary V. Swain are executive
producers.
|
|
|
|
|
