Ringer was born in New Bern, North Carolina to a marine biologist who worked at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and a nurse.
[5] Her family relocated to West Springfield, Virginia when she was twelve, and she started pre-professional training at the Washington School of Ballet.
[2] Ringer attended a summer intensive at the School of American Ballet, then stayed as a full-time student on scholarship.
[3] In 1994, she made her debut as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Balanchine's The Nutcracker,[6] and was promoted to soloist in January the following year.
She recalled Peter Martins told her to "stop eating cheesecake," and by 1997 she was 40 pounds (18 kg) heavier than most dancers.
She also became involved with her faith, Protestant Christianity, which she disconnected in her teenage years, and attended Overeaters Anonymous, both of which she credited for helping her comeback.
[8] In both her memoir and in interviews, Ringer credits true religious faith with helping bring her back to the top of a field where she says ballet dancing and performing can exist as a false idol, as she puts it, “where ballet is god.”[2][4] In 2010, when reviewing Ringer in The Nutcracker, New York Times critic Alastair Macaulay wrote that she "looked as if she'd eaten one sugarplum too many."
[3] In her last performance, she appeared as the Pink Girl in Robbins' Dances at a Gathering and the Pearly Queen in Balanchine's Union Jack.