After moving to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Kretzschmar began studying dance with Community Ballet at Wake Forest University.

[1][2] At 17, Kretzschmar moved to New York City to attend the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center, where she studied under Suki Schorer, Suzi Pillare, Kay Mazzo, Peter Martins, Sean Lavery, and Andrei Kramarevsky.

She has also performed in ballets choreographed by Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, Kyle Abraham and Alexei Ratmansky.

[10] In 2024, Kretzschmar choreographed Raffaella, an original full-length narrative ballet that premiered at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend, Indiana.

[11][12] A filmed live-stage recording of Raffaella is in development, slated to premiere October 31, 2024 at the University of Notre Dame.