Behle was born in Stockholm in 1876 to unwed parents, and was adopted, along with her brother August, by the Granbäck family, who ensured that she had a full education.

In 1898 she enrolled at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where she took courses in solo singing for five semesters and then spent time in France, where she changed her surname from Granbäck to Behle.

[1] Back in Sweden, on 1 May 1906, she went with a friend, Louise Wikström, to the Östermalm Theatre [sv] on Karlavägen in Stockholm to see guest Isadora Duncan.

Combining Duncan's artistry with Dalcroze's pedagogy and technique (La metode), Behle's own version of free dance was formed.

After returning to Geneva in 1907 for another summer course, the two friends set up Sweden's first Duncan school of plastic and rhythmic gymnastics in a four-room apartment at Brahegatan 45 in Stockholm.