I have a question, too.
When skaters and other athletes take ballet lessons for cross-training purposes, what exactly does that consist of? Do they learn the same same steps, positions, lifts, etc., as a person would who is seriously hopeful of one day performing on stage? Or is it more like stretching and strength/flexibility exercises?
Do you start right off doing your beginning exercises to music, or is that added later?
I don't know. I myself did ballet for ballet's sake, but it certainly helped my FS as well. My ballet background also helped me with other dances, such as jazz, ballroom dancing etc.
In Mao's case, she said in this article <http://www.skatetoday.com/articles0405/031205-1.htm> that she practiced classical ballet between 3 to 9. So it's 6 years of training. She says that she did some recitals. I had seen pictures of little Mao and Mai with all the heavy makeup and great costumes prepared for such recitals.
The article also says, "Asada skates for three hours a day every day on ice and participates in about an hour and a half of off ice training every day, including ballet, conditioning and weights." This is when she was 14. I suppose that this ballet session would be just as complementary to FS. Yet, if you do it everyday, I think that it would still help your posture and positions; especially, in her case, she had former training in classical ballet for 6 years.
Then now, it's been reported that she resumed ballet during the off season and has been practicing it hard. If I recall correctly, one of the major purposes seems to improve the upper body movements. I don't know what they are doing in their practices. But since both Mao and Mai had already practiced classical ballet for a long time, I suppose that they can do various things both at the barre and at the center.
Additionally, it seems that TT brings Mao (and Mai?) to theaters to see ballet performances.
ETA: To answer Mathman's last question, I think that even if you are a very beginner, you would have some music at a slower tempo. The music tempo can be adjusted. You can also count double.
I think one of the benefits of these off ice dance training is that you can always have the music to dance to, which is often difficult on ice. I think that dance training with music helps you hits the beat more correctly, which I think Mao is really good at.
