Breiner was born in Connecticut and brought up in Columbus, Ohio, where she received her early dance training.
At 17, she furthered her dance studies in Munich, Germany, at the Heinz Bosl Foundation.
Her first engagement was with the Bayerisches Staatsballett before she joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 1996 and became First Soloist there in 2001.
In the 2012/13 season she became artistic director of ballet at the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen where she created the choreography for the world premiere of Charlotte Salomon: Der Tod und die Malerin.
Breiner received the German theatre award Der Faust in 2013 and 2015.