Sofiane Sylve is a – perhaps unlikely – bon vivant.

“I’m French, eh?” she says with a Gallic shrug. “A good meal, good wine, cheese, ooh!” It’s an unusual attitude coming from a rail-thin principal dancer at New York City Ballet. But this stylish brunette is onto something: her convivial, bright spirit is just what makes her one of the most exciting ballerinas in the world today.

When she joined City Ballet (after leaving the Dutch National Ballet) in 2003, she looked right at home almost immediately. Which is no minor accomplishment. City Ballet has a specific style – based on the technique created by company founder George Balanchine. It’s a style that is typically learned or honed at the School of American Ballet, the company’s proving ground.

Ms. Sylve is the only current female principal who did not attend SAB. And she’s the only one who joined as a principal, rather than coming up through the system. What’s a marvel – and what’s marvelous – is that as a French trained, European-raised dancer, she fits so well into Balanchine’s company.

From sleek neoclassical works to emotive story ballets to new efforts by resident choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (she’ll debut in his “After the Rain” this weekend), Ms. Sylve quite simply belongs. Her ability to pull this off is not the result of just one quality, but a balance of many.

In performance, this 28-year-old dancer is musical yet athletic. Charming, yet full of attack. Precise, yet always reaching for more. She is unusually graced with stage presence. When she’s dancing, a spotlight is hardly necessary. She projects her energetic glow into every seat in the house. And her theory on where it comes from is simple: “I think being a normal person makes me who I am on stage.”

So what passes for normal these days? Ms. Sylve carves out – and carefully guards – time with non-ballet friends. She makes and wears her own beaded jewelry. With a free afternoon, she’ll head over to the Frick Collection or the Wildenstein Gallery. She reads two books at a time: When we spoke she was reading Herbert Breslin’s account of life with Pavarotti and a collection of Flaubert’s letters. She’s also dealing with selling her Amsterdam home.

In New York, she tries not to go shopping too much, but her stylish getup – lime-green cashmere turtleneck (from her favorite cashmere shop in Paris), dark green painted-on cords, high-heel cowboy boots, brown shawl, and leopard-print belt – suggests that austerity isn’t always successful. She takes out sushi regularly from Momo Sushi and likes to unwind at Landmarc or the Hudson.

And like many New Yorkers, Ms. Sylve is an unapologetic foodie. Odd as it may seem, her approach to dining seems in keeping with her approach to ballet. Of a lively evening at home, she says: “Food and cooking is so peaceful. You have a whole day to go shopping and you cook for 12 people. It’s great.”

Her culinary thoughts neatly parallel her approach to dance: “It’s not about how high you’re going to kick that leg or how many pirouettes you’re going to do. I’d rather have a good time with the guy or the girls I’m dancing with than say ‘It’s about me, myself, and I.'”

For her, dancing is about pleasure, but not just for herself: “Sharing it,” she said decisively.

Born in Nice, France, Ms. Sylve was raised primarily by her grandmother. And it was she who guided the young Sofiane to ballet, insisting that all of the children in the family must try something artistic.

“My parents were going through a lot, and it was kind of my escape,” she recalled. “The studio was peaceful; there was no screaming, no discussion, no nothing.”

By age 9, she was dancing competitively and knew she was on a professional track. Several years later, she got a contract to dance professionally at the Stadttheater in Karlsruhe, Germany, where she both worked and continued her studies.

Then along came Patricia Neary, the former NYCB principal and repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust, to set an evening of works on the German company. Ms. Sylve recalled Ms. Neary’s reaction: “She said, ‘What are you doing here? You should go to a big company with a big rep.'”

At 16, Ms. Sylve sneaked off to a few auditions and landed a job in Amsterdam at the Dutch National Ballet, where she stayed for 10 years. Though she trained in Amsterdam with Russian and Hungarian teachers, Ms. Sylve also traveled as a guest artist to Italy, Russia, and England, learning along the way. “I was like a sponge,” she said. “You go to Russia and do ‘Swan Lake,’ and they will always have something to say.”

One of those learning experiences brought Ms. Sylve to the attention of NYCB artistic director Peter Martins. He sent her a letter, asking her to perform as a guest artist with the company in the 2002-3 winter season. “I was like, ‘Who’s playing the joke? This is not funny,'” she said. “Then I saw the stamp, I saw everything. So, I’m just going to call. When he said, ‘I’m so happy you called.’ I thought ‘Okay, that was not a joke.'”

The results of that guest season were great fun to watch. Ms. Sylve made a powerful impression with her built-for-speed timing in “Kammermusik No. 2” -a demanding Balanchine ballet in which two female leads dance next to each other, performing the same zippy steps just one beat apart. Her long legs and saucy character also added considerably to “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” an excerpt from the Broadway show “On Your Toes” that allows for some sex appeal.

After her short stay, she was asked to join the company. And as a NYCB principal, Ms. Sylve has continued to dazzle. But offstage, the transition came with some bumps. She suffered an injury, for the first time ever. And after dancing a year’s worth of Balanchine revivals during the centennial celebration, she found herself itching to be part of new creations and more emotional works.

Both needs are being met. Last month she’s went back home to DNB to star in a new production of “Firebird,” and this week she’ll take on the Wheeldon. She’s also been learning the seductive role of the Siren in “Prodigal Son,” Balanchine’s 1928 dramatic telling of the biblical story, set to the Prokofiev score.

The urge to create a character on stage is a driving force for this dancer. “I don’t just want to be a body moving, which in some ballets is fun,” she said. “But it’s also fun to have some kind of emotion.”

When she has the opportunity to do so, she digs in deeply. In “La Sonnambula,” the one-act dramatic ballet, she was cast in spring 2004 as the wicked Coquette, a role that she approached with a kind of awe. “You could be mean in life, but to send someone to die? You couldn’t do that in real life, to let that anger come out.”

Draining as it may be, Ms. Sylve is unafraid of such emotional roles: “That’s why I’m doing this. That’s why I’m doing first position and tendus everyday. Not just to look good on the beach in the summer.”

Though the NYCB repertory gives her comparatively few opportunities for full-blown characters, she recognizes the opportunity to learn at the source as a golden one. She’s currently working with Christine Redpath on a ballet and seems dazzled with appreciation for the guidance.

“If you want to learn Balanchine or Jerry, this is it. You don’t do it in Paris Opera [Ballet]. They do it beautifully, but that’s not where you want learn it. I’m in the right place to learn a lot.”

“After the Rain” will be performed January 22, 26 & 30 and February 1 at the New York State Theater (Lincoln Center, 212-870-5570).