Editor’s Note: This is the first part of a three-part series following figure skating in El Paso.
The ice is a stage and University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) sophomore, Isabella Brito, has swept across it with pure passion. Ever since she first stepped onto the rink in January 2021, Brito has committed herself to figure skating, finding an icy love in a fiery city. What started as a new interest has turned into a five-year adventure that has taken her across the country.
She began skating at 15, after doing 12 years of dance. The early discipline from being a dancer since the age of three carried over into figure skating. She poured her heart into every practice, and in just five years, she reached platinum, which is the highest level at her facility.
“I was in shock that she started in January [2021], and the coaches were already speaking about competing,” Brito’s mother, Marina Gutierrez said. “I would tell Isabella, ‘you just started skating, you need to learn how to skate first.’ Her very first performance was in her fourth month, and she got all gold.”
Brito’s interest in figure skating wasn’t immediate. As a child, she had a figure-skating-themed toy from a fast-food meal and remembers telling her mom about how much better she thought dance was compared to skating.
After seeing “Ice Princess” a Disney movie about a teenager who becomes a champion figure skater, Brito grew curious.
“That [Ice Princess] sparked my interest, so I told my mom if she could find any facilities around here for figure skating, and we found out there was one… and she took me,” Brito said. “Obviously at first, I was super bad at it, but ever since that day, I fell in love with it.
I thought it was a new form of expression rather than dance.”
Her first competition win was only the beginning. She has travelled to compete in places such as Dallas, Chicago, Alaska, Boston, California and Tacoma, Wash. With every competition, Brito has left with at least one gold medal, proving that she brings a competitive spirit that stands out in her performances.
“It’s just awesome to see her do what she loves and actually goes to compete. She’s very competitive, she goes in there and starts doing her thing,” Gutierrez said. “One of her instructors, who was coaching her with ribbon, rhythmic and gymnastics, was actually crying. He got extremely emotional because Isabella was doing excellent on that [California] performance, and with all the training that it took, he was just crying from joy.”
As her success in the sport grew, Brito realized that figure skating demands mental strength, rather than just physical strength.
“A lot of people perceive figure skating as something easy, when in reality, it’s not,” Brito said. “It’s such a mental battle with yourself. Its not even a ‘Can you do it physically?’ because most people can. It’s the mental part that makes everyone drift away from it.”
For Brito, the mental battle is a part of what fueled her growth. Progress did not come without frustration and long practice hours of repetition of routines, but no matter what, she pushes through.
“She falls, gets up, continues with the program,” Gutierrez said. “She never gives up.”
Through 12 years of practicing different forms of dance, primarily tap, pointe and ballet, Brito had a foundation of discipline to glide upon.
With dance, she became a natural performer, loving to put on a show and to entertain people.
“Seeing her medals and her performances, it’s just so awesome,” Gutierrez said. “Since the very beginning, when I saw that she really was getting into the sport, I knew that she was going to be doing bigger competitions.”
Rather than replacing dance, performing on ice has become an extension of her craft, leading Brito to explore a new realm of performance that is different from her roots of dance.
“It’s more of an artistic thing for me. It’s something to express your emotions, to your body. Sometimes when I’m performing, I’m not really thinking about the technical stuff, ” Brito said. It’s more artistic because I’m able to put my heart out there for other people to kind of see and visualize what I’m thinking or what I’m feeling.”
Balancing her life on the ice, Brito is also a full-time forensic science student at UTEP. As a sophomore, she manages training sessions that start as early as 6 a.m. followed by classes and homework. She has learned how to manage her time and refuses to let anything get in her way.
In just five years, Brito has grown from stepping on the ice for the first time to a platinum-level skater at her facility, carving out a space for herself in a sport that historically, is not so common in a desert city like El Paso.
Iziah Moreno is the photo editor and may be reached at [email protected] and @iziiaaahh on Instagram
