She received her ballet training at the Norwegian National Ballet Academy in Oslo (1988-89) and at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Stockholm. She also studied ballet in New York and Paris.
She made her name in 1991 performing Lokk by Kjersti Alveberg at the Eurovision competition for young dancers. The following year, she danced Kristin Lavransdatter in Nidaros Cathedral. From 1995 to 1997, she was a member of the Skånes Danseteater in Malmö. She joined the Norwegian National Ballet in 1997 and became a principal dancer in 2000. As well as classical roles such as Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, she has performed as a modern and non-traditional ballerina in modern works choreographed by George Balanchine, Glen Tetley, Jiří Kylián, Paul Lightfoot, Sol Lèon and Nacho Duato. In 2001, she received the Norwegian Dance Critics' Prize for her interpretation of Kim Brandstrup's Place of Stone.
She collaborated with Kjersti Alveberg on Babels barn, Volven (2000) and Nett no (2002). She played the lead role in the film and theatre production of Lille Frøken Norge (2003). She also played Eva Linde in Genanse og verdighet at the National Theatre (2000) and Solveig in Peer Gynt at the Torshov Theatre (2004). She was the first dancer to receive Telenor's Communication without Boundaries award in 2004. On 1 August 2012, she was appointed Artistic Director of the Norwegian National Ballet for a period of five years. Her contract was subsequently renewed and currently runs until 2022.
