Liina-Grete Lilender, director and coach at the Uisukool Reval ice skating school, had invited the choreographer all the way from Vancouver to share his knowledge and experience..

Lilender said she had observed Pillay's work with Petrõkina, ever since their first collaboration.

This is now the third season of collaboration between the pair.

"They have a fantastic rapport," Lilender told ERR's Sport portal.

"The way they understand each other's body language is key. Whatever Mark wants to teach Niina, she executes, meaning their chemistry fits perfectly," she went on.

Once in Tallinn, Pillay was able not only to apply polish to Petrõkina's routines, but also, at a three-day seminar, share his expertise with local youth skaters.

Of his star pupil, Mark said: "Nina for me is a very special athlete. From the moment I met Nina, she has had the quality of being quite beautiful, but powerful, at the same time – and that's such a special combination we need in figure skating, and she's had it from the moment I saw her, and she's also such an incredible trainer."

"Whenever I work with Nina, she works hard. She works hard for me every single day, and you see the results of it," he told AK.

"We did the first program right after the world championships in Toronto, and I'm very happy with it – I really enjoyed it. It's so fun to work with Nina. And then we recently did the long program in Berlin about three weeks ago, and I'm very happy with that. So on my visit here, we kind of just cleaned it, put everything ready – so she's ready to go for the season," he went on.

Coach Pillay selected the music and elements for the new competitive routines, to highlight Estonia's top skater's strengths.

On this, he said: "She needs power. She reacts to power in a very wonderful way. You can see it in her eyes, you can see it in her face, yo can see how she interprets it, but there's also a feminine quality to her skating, so she's able to do both of these things."

Petrõkina is to start her competitive season in September, and her new short program and free skate, choreographed by Mark Pillay, will be showcased then.

The current focus is on fine-tuning the details to increase the automatism of movement, especially in the new free skate routine.

On this, Petrõkina herself said: "At the start it's very challenging to skate the routine, as you are constantly thinking about the next move."

"Now that the sequences are clear, I am working more on the details—where I look, be it at the judges or not, when I breathe, where I can take a breath, to skate the second half of the routine," she explained.

The three-day seminar held in Tallinn had the choreographer putting Estonia's top skater practicing on the ice in sync with local youth skaters.

Niina Petrõkina, 19, is the 2023 Skate America bronze medalist, a four-time ISU Challenger Series medalist, and a two-time Estonian national champion.

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