ST. PETERSBURG -- In a studio of the Mariinsky Theater, reigning principal Yulia Makhalina begins a rehearsal of the 1910 masterpiece "Firebird."


She and partner Andris Liepa are alone in the mirrored hall -- pianists are in short supply with five rehearsal halls in full swing -- and there is no one to play Stravinsky's complicated melodies.


"Don't worry," Makhalina tells her partner, and then she starts to hum the theme of the Firebird's entrance. As the tall ballerina hums, everything in her sings, and the steps and the song are in perfect pitch. It is not surprising: "Firebird" is a role close to Makhalina's heart.


Two years ago, when she came to Moscow to dance the Russian premiere of the ballet at the Bolshoi, Makhalina changed the image of the cold and sterile classicism of Petersburg ballerinas with her searing passion and fierce energy.


Now she is taking that image abroad. Fresh from guest appearances in Denmark, she is preparing for a two-month tour of France, Japan and Taiwan that ends on New Year's Eve in Paris with her performance in "Nutcracker." "In the new Russia, Russian artists are blessed," Makhalina noted during a recent interview. "They can work here and there, have the best of both worlds."


Makhalina's passion and energy have led the young dancer to take risks the more faint-hearted might not attempt.


"I have always developed from risk," said Makhalina, 25, who won the 1992 Grand Prix in international dance competition in Paris: "When I danced "Swan Lake" for the first time I had only three rehearsals. Oleg Vinogradov (artistic director of the Mariinsky Ballet) proposed it to me four days before the performance because the ballerina had been injured. Even my own repetiteur Moiseev told me I could be signing my own death-sentence." But her success was neither overnight, nor easy, she added. "For three years, I was in the corps de ballet while I was dancing as a principal. There were tours when I was dancing 22 shows a month."


Vinogradov is enthusiastic in his praise for Makhalina, who recently opened the Mariinsky season with an exquisite and complex "Swan Lake":


"She is an absolutely unique person. The new generations should be like her, in profession, friendship and family. Yulia is musical, she plays the piano and writes incredible music herself. She writes fantastic poetry. To choreograph for her is a joy. She is the kind of dancer on whom one could found an entire theatre."


But, Vinogradov reflected, "Life is not simple for such people. Envy and misunderstanding inevitably surround them."


Makhalina's sharp ascent has given her a feeling of estrangement from her fellow dancers at the Marinsky. "I am something of a black sheep here," she says. "My world is a lonely one. I don't mind anymore."


Unlike the great ballerinas of the pre-revolutionary Mariinsky, Makhalina has no maidservants nor a great mansion presented by an admiring archduke. Constant rehearsals, performances and preparation take their toll on her personal life.


"I have a wonderful career and am developing as an artist, but I have few friends and even those I can see only rarely," the dancer said. "I still live with my family and have no time for any kind of serious ties with men."


What matters to Makhalina, whose model is the legendary ballerina Maya Plisetskaya -- "her emotion, her energy" -- is perfection, and the striving for it extends to every undertaking.


A television crew recently filming a story on her had to wait days for her to be ready. In her dressing room, tutus, costumes and photographs had to be arranged and rearranged until the Makhalina felt the scene an expression of herself. The ballerina also decided what the city footage should be -- her little sister Liza, her mother and Yulia visiting the Bronze Horseman, laying down flowers for Peter the Great in the sunshine. What in others would seem artifice or imperiousness, however, is simply Makhalina's way of offering the best of herself.


The Russian ballerina is under contract to dance a total of eight performances with the Danish Royal Ballet this year, including the title role in"La Sylphide." The precise, filigree footwork of choreographer August Bournonville's classic is the antithesis of the expressive arms and athletic style of the Russians -- and Yulia has only two weeks to master it. A summer performance of the Petipa classic "The Sleeping Beauty" in Copenhagen brought the dancer ovations. Makhalina hopes to dance the role of Tatiana in "Eugene Onegin" with the Danish company, if Queen Margrethe, the ballet's patron and guiding force, approves.


Along with Bolshoi dancer Nina Ananiashvili, Makhalina is among the first Russian ballerinas to live a double artistic life, divided between a company in the West and her native company.


"This contract in the West widens my perspective," Makhalina said. "But it puts more responsibility on me. When I am abroad, I now represent the Mariinsky Theater and Russian ballet. When I return, I must show the results of my work abroad, as an emissary of the Danish school of dance."


Makhalina does not want to leave Russia altogether. She has seen great dancers like "Firebird" partner Liepa and Faroukh Rouzimatov leave and return and thinks she understands why.


"We are Russians. We were born here, we grew up here. This is our home, here is an atmosphere full of energy for us," she said. "We come here to gather strength to go abroad and give out this force."


Makhalina is also inspired by her mystical beliefs.


"I have always believed in signals from above," the ballerina says. "I don't necessarily believe in a single god as it is written, but I believe there is a force -- a force that supports me in my work. But I prefer not to talk about faith in words. If my faith can help you, let it be transferred through my dancing. I can only speak in the language of dance about faith."