Carrie Imler

Imler was raised in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.[2] She received her ballet training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and summer intensives at the School of American Ballet.[3]

In 1995, Imler joined the Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice, and joined the corps de ballet the following year.[4] She was promoted to soloist in 2000,[4] and principal dancer two years later following a performance of The Rite of Spring.[5]

Imler had danced lead roles in nearly 100 ballets,[5] such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote, The Merry Widow and Giselle,[1][4] and works by George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp and Alexei Ratmansky.[3] According to colleague Jonathan Porretta, she could jump as high as the men in the company.[1] A video of Imler dancing the 32 fouetté turns from the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake went viral on YouTube.[2][6]

Imler retired from performing in 2017. In her last performance, she danced Balanchine's Theme and Variations, the Black Swan pas de deux, an excerpt from Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs and a new ballet by Kiyon Gaines.[2] Having been in the company for twenty-two years, she and Batkhurel Bold, a frequent partner who retired the same year, are the company's longest-serving principal dancers.[4] Following her retirement, she joined the company school's faculty.[2]

Imler started studying at the Seattle University in 2007, while recovering from a hip injury.[4]