Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Ms. Holmes began her ballet training with Audrey Maduell, Leliah Haller and Harvey Hysell.

She began her career as a soloist with New Orleans Ballet, then became a Soloist at San Francisco Ballet, where she danced for 15 years.  She then moved to England where she was a senior soloist with Birmingham Royal Ballet until 2001.

Her repertoire includes over 100 ballets spanning both classical and modern genres, and she has performed at major theaters across the globe.  Company tours have taken her all over the world.  During her career she danced all of the classics and she had the pleasure of working on world premieres with choreographers of international fame such as David Bintley, James Kudelka, Val Caniparoli, Mark Morris, and Helgi Tomasson.

After retiring from the stage, she worked in Education and Outreach for Birmingham Royal Ballet, was the Ballet Education Manager for the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, was Academy Director for Tapestry Dance Company in Austin Texas, and was a Professor of Dance at University of Texas at Austin. She led Kansas City Ballet School for nine years before returning to San Francisco Ballet as School Director in 2024.