Gonzalo Garcia doesn’t waste time. At age 15, fresh from Spain, Mr. Garcia became the youngest dancer to receive the prestigious gold medal at the famed ballet competition, the Prix de Lausanne. At age 18, he joined the San Francisco Ballet. Four years later, he was made a principal dancer.

Now, the ambition that first drove him across the Atlantic brings him to the New York City Ballet, where he will make his auspicious debut as a principal dancer in Peter Martins’s new ballet “Grazioso,” which will have its premiere tomorrow night. His fans should take note that he will also dance the role of the Cavalier in the “Nutcracker” on November 24 and 25 and December 2.

“A dancer’s career doesn’t last long,” Mr. Garcia said recently, settling his dance gear in one of the company’s Lincoln Center offices. “You must make every moment count.”

With his curly dark hair, easy smile, and buoyant manner, Mr. Garcia enjoyed great popularity with audiences and fellow dancers in San Francisco, earning special attention from the company’s artistic director Helgi Tomasson, who rewarded him with starring roles in “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Nutcracker,” and Jerome Robbins’s “Dances at a Gathering.”

“Gonzalo is very committed, passionate, and versatile,” Mr. Tomasson said. “He can perform a wide variety of styles, from classical to neoclassical to the lead in ‘Don Quixote.'” Mr. Tomasson, who danced with New York City Ballet before becoming director of San Francisco Ballet, found his young protégé particularly attuned to the work of Balanchine. “I especially enjoyed coaching him in the solo that Balanchine created on me from ‘Le Baiser de la Fée,'” Mr. Tomasson said. “He had a real eagerness to learn and to convey all the steps and gestures exactly as Balanchine had choreographed them.”

Mr. Martins, recognizing this aptitude, invited Mr. Garcia to perform as a guest artist in NYCB’s 2004 season. Then, last summer, NYCB’s resident choreographer, Christopher Wheeldon, chose him as one of the dancers to perform in the inaugural engagement of his troupe Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company at the City Center in September.

Mr. Garcia spoke of his appreciation for the neoclassical canon. “In abstract ballets, there aren’t any fluffy things to distract from the essence of the work. I’ve had incredible experiences, learning ‘Apollo’ for the Rome Opera Ballet from Jacques d’Amboise, who is such a special person, and doing ‘Dances at a Gathering.’ The steps are very hard, very grounded. You have to build the mood very slowly to set the proper tone. Each dance teaches you something different,” he said. “There was nothing greater than the possibility of discovering the amazing ballets of Robbins and Balanchine for myself. Performing Balanchine’s ‘Prodigal Son’ at 20 changed me — it has so much depth and understanding of human nature. Now, the possibility of doing so many more of his ballets thrills me.”

He loves the lighthearted quality of “Grazioso,” which is set to selections from Mikhail Glinka’s “Ruslan and Ludmilla” and “A Life for the Tsar.” “It’s also tricky,” he said. “We all get a chance to show off our technique. It’s very classical. I’m honored that Peter chose me for this; it’s really something to have the artistic director work with you.”

Choreographed for three men and one woman, the ballet also features principal dancer Ashley Bouder, who previously performed with Mr. Garcia during the Morphoses troupe’s season. “Gonzalo works really, really hard,” she said, “and pays attention to every detail. He’s very strong. He’s always calm and never seems to get frustrated. He can also be very princely onstage, which creates a really special atmosphere.”

Being onstage does, in fact, change everything for him. “I’m naturally shy,” he said, “but when I’m onstage, I get totally caught up in the dance. It pushes away the outside world. I don’t have to talk — the verbalizing part of my brain doesn’t have to be used, and I can communicate through movement. You can discover a lot about yourself when you dance,” he said. “And it’s not only through characters you learn; it can be emotions and feelings that you never knew you had until a dance demands that you find them in yourself.”

For all his dedication to dance, Mr. Garcia also plans to keep up a social life in New York, which for him revolves around dinner parties featuring the food of his childhood. “I’ve been so busy since I got here,” he said, “that I really haven’t made my apartment cozy enough yet. But I’ve already started cooking for my friends. I like preparing paella and tortilla Espanola, actually all kinds of Mediterranean food. I shop for Spanish products wherever I can find them. The best thing will be when my family visits over the holidays and I have them at my house with my friends. That’s what will make New York home.”