Skate Today : Catching up with Kurt Browning

Catching up with Kurt Browning

Sit down for a conversation with Kurt Browning, and you'll quickly find that the four-time World Champion's personable on-ice persona is a direct extension of his off-ice personality. The quick-witted skater is friendly, funny, passionate about his work, and effusive about those he works with. These days, that work extends both on and off the ice as he's taken on the roles of choreographer and commentator, even as he continues to perform and compete on the ice.

"This is a very cool moment in my career where I'm choreographing, a little bit. Commentating, a little bit. I'm still performing. It's like, wow! I'm doing a little bit of everything!"

As the husband of a ballet dancer, Kurt Browning has had plenty of opportunity to observe the world of dance and how movement can affect emotion. He has applied these lessons to his own work, and as a choreographer, strives to open young skaters more to the artistic side of the sport. "The big challenge is to get the skater themselves to open up and trust. .... To make these skaters realize that there's more out there beyond the jumps. That you can make people feel. People go to the ballet and they just feel so much. It's just movement, music and body movement, no talking, and they just about are in tears. And people in skating, I mean it's a sport first. So to try to tap into that other side of it with young skaters is really exciting. Also, they're young and they're so good. To use their bodies as a tool...it's really fun. To see it starting to happen, I get very excited about it."

When Browning talks about his choreography, his passion for skating and for working with young skaters is clear. He is extremely animated when talking about working with Alissa Czisny ("She chose her own music, Man of La Mancha, and I was like, 'you sure, girl?' But trying to get a young girl to open up her mind to moving this way on the ice [demonstrates]...that's exciting. It's an exciting challenge.") and with Brian Joubert ("Like with Joubert, I told him, 'I feel like you're a car, and you never knew you had a fourth gear.' [He's] been driving around in third, and I showed him where fourth was. ...And they were simple, simple moves. But he'd never trusted. ....And then he finally did it the way I wanted him to, and I went 'yes!' and he stood up and looked at me. And his eyes got really wide and he got quiet for a second, and then he skated away and he did it again. I could tell he was like, 'that felt good in the body!' So he's opening his mind to new movements."). He is enthusiastic talking about Evan Lysacek: "You know what, I got on the ice with him, he was better than I thought he was. .... After five days on the ice with him, I'm like, 'Evan Lysacek is AWESOME!' And I didn't know he was that good a skater until I saw him improvise and learn. I had much more respect for him after that." Just talking to him, you can get a sense of what working with him must be like as he physically acts out what he's trying to express, demonstrating what he means through action as much as through words.

Given his free-wheeling personality and artistic bent, you might think that choreographing for the Code of Points might be restrictive for Browning. And you wouldn't be entirely wrong. "I mean, it's not that hard. But it's kind of hard to be creative within the Code of Points. With the really good skaters, it's not that hard. I mean, Lambiel makes it look easy, and Jeffrey Buttle makes it look easy. And Evan actually, too. But those are the top five guys in the world! They can do it. And then the rest have trouble. The hard part is to have the footwork not look like everyone else's, when everyone's being asked to do the same thing in the footwork. And that's a little frustrating. I'm not saying the footwork looks bad the way they're asking for it, I'm just saying that they all kind of look the same. You know, that's not what skating's about. Skating's not about looking the same. So, I don't mind the rules, I just wish that maybe one of the footwork sequences was a little freed up. Like, look, just one footwork we want this, and the other one, do whatever you want! One spiral without grabbing of the leg would be nice. Camel spin alone would be nice. Just open it up a little bit, make it easier for the skaters. It's hard. I think it's too hard. I don't even know how these kids are doing it. They're awesome. I'm too old to even consider it."

Asked how his own eligible programs would have done in the code of points, he responded immediately, "They would have been crap!" The programs that he and other skaters of his generation competed with can not possibly be compared on the same scale, he emphasizes, because they were created for an entirely different set of criteria. "They weren't designed for any of the points. We would have been level one all over the place. You know, I didn't grab a blade, I didn't change to the inside edge 'cause heaven knows, when you did that, that looked bad. So what they're asking them to do, we tried not to do in certain situations. So you can't. You can't compare the Olympic champion now to what Brian Boitano did [using] the code of points. You know, these people are not trying to get points on the system, so you just can't do it. "

Ultimately, although he does enjoy working with the current elite skaters on their competitive programs, Browning still prefers the freedom of exhibition numbers. "Choreography is a very interesting thing. I'm looking forward to more skaters coming to me and asking for exhibition numbers [laughs]. 'Cause that's my thing."

One of the other hats that Browning wears these days is that of commentator. He is in his second year of a two-year contract with ABC Sports/ESPN to cover Skate America, US Nationals, Worlds, and Marshalls. While commentary work is not new to him - he's commentated for NBC Sports and FOX in the past - at Skate America, he found himself in the relatively unusual position of commentating a program that he himself had choreographed, Evan Lysacek's The Feeling Begins short program. This is a position that some consider to be a conflict of interest. Browning agrees that there is a potential for that, but believes that his experience choreographing Lysacek's program only enhances his ability to do his job. "My job is to give insight on what I'm watching because of my knowledge. Well, my knowledge includes how he made up his program. So I think it adds to my ability to do my job. Is it a potential conflict of interest? Absolutely! But I'm not judging. I'm commentating. I've been paid to give you my opinion and to try to inform the public of what's going on. So, here's my opinion. You don't have to like it. And if enough of you hate it, I'll get fired. But I don't think it's like that." At the same time, Browning isn't quite as confident about his first experience commentating a program he choreographed. "It was distracting. It's like, I want people to enjoy the fact that the guy they're listening to actually choreographed it. You know, what insights could I give them? And I was so distracted by getting emotional about it, that I don't think that I gave too many insights. I'd have to hear it and see if it went well."

Overall, the Canadian is enjoying commentating, and would like to continue to do it in the future. He gets a particular kick out of working with the American commentators. "I must admit that it is kind of exciting for me to be with the Americans, because it's like that forbidden zone, a little bit. To work with Terry Gannon and Dick Button... Dick has made me really angry, many times in the past [laughs]. But I think that I was just overly sensitive and his sense of humor, I just didn't get it. And now, I kind of worship him a little bit. And I like getting in fights with him on the air, or disagreeing with him, all that stuff. I think it's great, and I think that we trust each other, actually." As for his other co-commentator, "Terry Gannon just blows me away. Sitting beside him, you feel like someone's just sweeping you along. He's so professional, he's so good, he's so connected." Whether he ends up commentating for US TV or Canadian TV, "I love the work, and I hope it's it in my future, and I hope I'm doing a good job. 'Cause, I do enjoy it. Keeps me close to the sport."

Whatever other hats Browning may wear these days, he is still first and foremost a skater. He may have retired from full-time touring with Stars on Ice four years ago, but that by no means implies that his schedule is clear. In the fall, the busy skater performed in three Disson events - Halloween on Ice, his own Kurt Browning's Gotta Skate, and Country on Ice. In Halloween on Ice, the skaters each played a Halloween-themed character, and stayed in character throughout the show. Despite the fact that the show was a one-time event, with programs that were likely to only be performed once, Browning's approach to his Scarecrow character shows his attention to detail and care he puts into his performances. "I kept thinking about trying to make sure that there was never a moment where a kid would all of a sudden see me start skating. I just had to stay the scarecrow the whole time. Never once become a skater." Browning put so much investment into that character that he thinks he may bring it back for Stars on Ice, where he's guest starring for six shows, rather than let the character go.

Canadian band Barenaked Ladies have an irreverent sensibility combined with unmistakable musical skill, which seems a perfect match for Kurt Browning's blend of fun and skill. As it happens, singer Ed Robertson is a good friend of Browning's, and appeared at the first Kurt Browning's Gotta Skate in 2001, performing a song he'd written especially for Kurt. This time around, for the sixth Gotta Skate, Ed brought the whole band with him for an exuberant, exciting night of skating and music. Given BNL's skills as an excellent live band, Browning was particularly concerned to make sure they understood that it was their show as much as it was the skaters'. "I *really*, *really* worked hard to make sure that the Ladies knew that they were allowed to be themselves. 'This is your show, you're not just coming out and playing music while we skate. Don't want you to feel that way.'" This integration of the band into the show included the stage design, which placed the band on two platforms right on the ice so the skaters could skate around the band and through the band. "I was very involved with the concept and design of the stage, and the interaction of the skaters with the band. And I almost got everything I wanted. My team made it happen." The interaction also included Robertson coming out onto the ice in skates at one point, as well as the skaters joining the band on stage. The resulting live show was fun for the skaters, the band, and the audience, bringing the energy level in the arena way up. "I really hope when the show comes out that it comes across as interactive, friendship, a rock show with skaters skating. I hope that it comes across the way it felt."

One of the programs that Browning created for Gotta Skate popped up in competition at Ice Wars a few weeks later. Easy is off of BNL's newest CD, and inspired him to try something a little different - land six double axels in the course of one program. "Every time he says "easy" I just wanted to fly, which is a little unrealistic and kind of silly, but it was a different approach to a program. It's not that the jumps were that hard, but it was just seeing them over and over again. Just a theme I had never tried before. But it was fun!" His other program for Ice Wars was created for the Country on Ice show a week later, to a song called Expectation and the Blues by Corb Lund. Browning met the Albertan singer when filming a special for CBC last summer, "Alberta Bound," which showcased Albertan musicans and artists in celebration of the Alberta centennial.

Ice Wars, now in its thirteenth year, is the only remaining professional skating competition. When Ice Wars began with its concept of head-to-head matchups, Browning was initially matched against Paul Wylie. However, from the time that Browning beat Brian Boitano at the World Professional Championships in 1995, the Browning vs Boitano matchup has become the consistent spotlight rivalry of the competition, year after year. This position is not one that Browning would have anticipated ending up in when he began his pro career, due to his immense respect for Boitano. "Then, it was a shock to be competitive with Brian. And to beat him was literally one of the most amazing things I've ever done, in my personal list of achievements as a skater. To beat Brian at his best was... you know, once, I thought it was a fluke or whatever, but then I did it twice, so I thought that was, like, *wow*. It was just like, wow, they really consider me a skater's skater. You know, I've really actually been considered one of the better skaters that ever skated if they allow me to be competitive against Brian Boitano." These days, "It's a fun rivalry. I'm not training to beat Brian. I'm just training to see, am I in good enough shape? Against Brain, it's awesome, but it is not personal, in almost any way, shape or form."

This type of friendly rivalry has characterized Browning's competitive career. Through the bulk of his eligible career, Browning's primary rival was Ukrainian Victor Petrenko. Then, in the last few years before he turned pro, fellow Canadian Elvis Stojko gave him a run for his money year after year. As pros, Browning and Brian Boitano shared a friendly rivalry at World Pros and Ice Wars for years. The key to staying on friendly terms with your competitors, Browning emphasizes, is respect and self-confidence. "I think that if you're comfortable with yourself it's really easy to respect your competitors. As soon as you're not comfortable with yourself then you start throwing up walls or you're uncomfortable." In the case of his rivalries, "we have three guys that were my rivals but they were all so secure with themselves that they had nothing to worry about. They're going to go, they're going to do their stuff, they're going to win or they're going to lose. And we all respected each other." Browning believes that his rivalry with Petrenko pushed him to become better, and that he in turn pushed Stojko to be better. "The only guy that I ever trained, you know like in the Rocky movies, when he was (dramatic voice) thinking of his competitor was Victor. I would be doing figures, quiet at 11:30 at night at the rink alone, and I'd be wondering, with time change, by the Black Sea, what was Victor doing, *right* now. Right now, what is he doing? And I would think about him often, and he inspired me. And I knew I had to be this good to beat him, because he was that good, and I was a much better skater because of him." As for Stojko, "Elvis gives me the most respect of any skater younger than I am, than I've ever got from anybody. ... it [was] after he was world champion many times that he walked up to me and said, I realize now how much you helped me. ..... I didn't know that I needed to hear it, but when I did hear it, I was like, wow, that was just wonderful. And it felt great."

Given his deep involvement in the sport, his rivalries against some of the best skaters in the world, his long career during a time when skating rose to unprecedented levels of popularity, and the many achievements that led to his induction into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame this past March, you would think that a sequel to his 1992 autobiography might be in order. Browning, however, is insistent that he will not write another autobiography. The reason? Not because he doesn't feel he has enough angst in his life to interest anyone, a joke from a previous interview which he regrets because it didn't carry across in print. It's for a far simpler reason. "I don't have the memory for it," he insists. "I just don't remember things. Scott Hamilton could write it. Brian Boitano could write it. I just...I flit through life, candidly, and I just don't remember moments. It's terrible, it's terrible. But it's just the way I am!"

Even if Browning did have the memory to write an autobiography, if he were to write one now, it would likely need yet another update in a few years, because Browning currently has no plans for retirement. To be fair, the self-described "live in the moment" skater is unlikely to ever make concrete retirement plans, and circumstances can always change unexpectedly, but for now he says "I think I'm going to skate for a long time." As a father of a three-year-old son, he does have one fairly concrete goal: "I want to skate long enough so Gabe can remember. That's kind of a goal. And then, we'll see." At the moment, though, he's enjoying what he's doing and is already making plans for next season. "This year I did so much of my own choreography that next year, if I'm still skating, whatever I'm doing, I probably will get more people to work with, so that I don't do two years in a row that looks all like I did my own stuff, which I don't think is smart."

Browning has no interest in just resting on his laurels and instead constantly seeks to challenge himself and try new things. He wants to work with a new dancer because it will be "a real challenge. Because she's earthy and everything's like this [demonstrates bendy motions] and this'll be a huge challenge if I can do it." He did the repeated double axels in Easy because it was a "theme I had never tried before." He did a 5 minute, 35 second program "because it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and it was a challenge. And, would people like it, would it flop, would it fly? It was a challenge!" He's treated the choreography for himself this season as "a little bit of a learning thing." It's this attitude that keeps things fresh and interesting for him year after year, and it's this attitude that he tries to carry over to the audience. He is aware that to a certain extent, you can't keep things fresh for an audience that has seen you year after year for over a decade. "Like a marriage, you're...good morning, it's me again. You know?" In the end, " you just have to be honest, I guess. It's what I try to do. I honestly believe that this is a good choice of music, and I will honestly try to sell it to you. And make you glad that you came to the rink. That's it! That's what keeps it going for me. *I* want to be here. I want you to also want to be here. And if it starts with me, then maybe you'll reciprocate as a people who paid money to see me skate. It's that simple."

Ultimately, Kurt Browning is fully aware and fully appreciative of just how lucky he's been in his career. When asked what three things he would change about himself or his past, if he were given a magic wand, he responded, "You can't. I mean, I'm so happy with the person that I am. My dad reminds me that I'm doing for a living, getting paid well, to do what I did as a kid. You don't have the right to bitch and complain. You just don't." Of course, his life has not been perfect, and his tone grows wistful when talking about his wish that his mom, who passed away in 2000, could have seen his son, or that his father-in-law was still around, but he points out that "that never ends. Where do you stop?" He says he still gets an occasional slight twinge, thinking of his missing Olympic medal. But in the end, Browning doesn't want to change a thing.

"It's been a wild ride, you know? Brian Boitano and I had a small conversation after this event [Ice Wars] was over, in the dressing room alone, about our incredible timing within the sport. How many things have changed within our career, within the sport, and yet somehow we're still... You know, we don't draw the people we used to draw. You know, we're not the superstars we used to be. This sport isn't the mega-monolith it used to be. And yet you know we're still loving it. We're older. He's got an ice pack on his knee. But we're looking at each other going, this is great, man! I mean we're still doing what we love! And we're *so* lucky. And we were just doing that to each other. *How* lucky you and I are. That we found something we love. That we could do it for a living. And that we're still doing it! And we had that little conversation today! And that's the kind of guy Brian is. You know, he's just very aware of..he's very gracious. And...no complaints! I wouldn't change a thing with that magic wand, I guess."

For the full interview with Kurt Browning, visit the Kurt Files