I don't think that ballet dancers are as snobbish about figure skating as many people assume. I think the scoring constraints strike them as strange, but Lilia wouldn't have agreed to take Yuri on if she thought it was a worthless activity. Maya Plisetskaya really admired Plushenko's skating – hell, Maya Plisetskaya was a massive soccer fan!

I suspect there's an aspect of ego boost to having your piece be something that everyone wants to do. :)