Carla Korbes was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and began her ballet training at age five with local teacher. At age eleven, she began studying at Ballet Vera Bublitz. In 1996, Peter Boal danced with her as a guest artist of the school and encouraged her to come to New York to study at School of American Ballet. In 1999 she was made an apprentice with New York City Ballet and joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2000. She was promoted to soloist in 2005 and later that year joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a soloist. She was promoted to principal dancer in 2006. She guest teaches in Seattle and joined the faculty of ASB in 2010.