At the end of New York City Ballet’s Spring season at Lincoln Center, I had occasion to speak with Maria Kowroski, a talented, young principal who is quickly rising to prominence in the New York scene.

She struck me as sweet, genuine and very earnest. Like all dancers who leave an impression on audiences, she's driven by a constant urge to learn and analyze and hone her craft. Never feeling as though she's at the top of her game is, of course, what puts her there.

Do you remember what first started you dancing?
My older sister, actually. She's about 5 years older than I am. She used to take ballet and tap from the local YMCA.

I wanted to be like her so when she was away at her dance classes I would try on her ballet clothes and run around the house. My mom decided to give it a whirl and put me in there.

Tap wasn't really my thing so I started a little more seriously with ballet. A couple of teachers from the Joffrey came to Grand Rapids [Michigan] and founded a school called The Summerfest School and that's where I started training more seriously for ballet.

Your entire career has been at NYCB so far. Do you think of yourself as a Balanchine ballerina?
Not really because I've never worked with him. But I think I've adapted to the style pretty well, that I fit into a lot of the roles here; they feel very natural to me. I feel like I'm doing the best that I can do without his influence.

Some people say that the Balanchine technique is much harder on the body than other styles. Would you agree?
Yes, I would. It's faster, it's sharper. Sometimes it’s wearing because you're just trying to do it up to speed but your body isn't executing it in the right way.

Speaking of speed, do you find it difficult to match the speed of shorter dancers?
It's a constant challenge for me. I think it will be until I'm done, because of my length. I'm always aware of it. My first day at S.A.B. I was thinking "Oh gosh, I've got a long way to go." because I'm bigger, my feet are bigger and it's not natural for me to move that fast...

...which, of course, is why it's so exciting to watch you do it.
You are very, very tall. How tall are you?
I'm 5'9", but when I go up on pointe I’m probably a little over six feet.

Are you the tallest woman in the company?
I think so. The tallest principal I know for sure. But there are a few other tall corps members.

Given your height, I should think the issue of partners would be a tricky one.
Yes. Usually I work with Charles Askegard, he's the tallest man in the company. It depends on the ballet, though. This season I've been with a lot of different partners. In Concerto in Five Movements, partnering with Albert [Evans] works fine, but I couldn't do Swan Lake with him because he's a little too short for me when I'm on point. There are certain ballets I couldn't do without Charles. I do most of the classical ballets with him.

What other pieces in the repertory, by other choreographers, interest you?
Of course Jerome Robbins' ballets are of interest, they're always a lot of fun to do. They're very different from the Balanchine ballets.

I've done quite a few ballets by different choreographers. One ballet I did this season I've been dying to do since I first saw it. I was at S.A.B. and I came to see the premiere of Red Angels by Ulysses Dove.

When I saw it I thought "I'd love to do that ballet some day" thinking at the time that it would never happen. Then I got in the company and I'd watch it from the wings every time it was on. These past couple of years I started to learn it and then I finally got the chance to do it.

Did you have a chance to do some work with Robbins?
Just a little. I was injured the last few years that he was around so I didn't get to work with him as much as I would have liked. The times I did work with him were very pleasurable. I know there are rumors that he was not such a nice man but I had a great experience with him. He basically wanted you to be you on stage. He didn't really tell you how to be, just to relax and adapt to the role, do it the way you felt it should be done.

Do you have a preference between the abstract ballets and the more story-oriented ballets?
A year ago I would have said I liked the story ballets better. I found it easier to indulge in a role that had a character. That's what I'm trying to work on now, to be comfortable with myself, in my own skin, and not feel like I'm a character. But it's a constant challenge to do the best you can in a part that doesn't have a story—and a lot of Balanchine ballets have no story. Sometimes I make one up in my head just to make something out of it.

Are there any things in particular that you find hard to do or that you're trying to develop?
Tons of stuff!

When I was young I had gotten a lot of parts really fast, and I would basically just do them and not put as much thought as possible into them. I was afraid to be myself in the part, or I wasn't ready yet; I was more worried about the steps and just being able to get through a ballet on stage.

Now, over the past few years, I've been trying to go over every part and find ways I can bring myself into the role. I research it further, I watch tapes of other people, just to bring as much as I can to the part.

You look very at-home in the pieces I've seen you do lately.
Well I've been on a lot this season, almost every day. I think the more you're out on stage, the more relaxed you get and the more you're able to be free and be yourself.

Is it wearing on your body to be on so much?
Yes, definitely. I think it's not so bad to be on every night, it's when you have to rehearse six hours a day beforehand: that's really exhausting. Then you have to find the energy to do the performance that night.

This week I've had easier rehearsal days and I've felt a lot better but my body hurts more because it's getting a bit of a break and it's asking "What's going on here?"

What's coming up in your schedule?
We finish our season here next week, we get a week off, then we go up to Saratoga [the company's summer residence] for three weeks. Then comes a really long layoff: August, September, and through the middle of October. About 11 weeks.

Is that welcome or does it make you crazy?
Actually I have a lot of gigs lined up that I'll be doing all over the place.

Sometimes I do rep that I already do, but other times it's stuff I don't usually get to do, which is fun, because I probably won't ever get to do Who Cares?

It's good because I can stay in shape and make more money than I would if I wasn't dancing.

Learn more about New York City Ballet at their Web site.