Portner was born in Ottawa, Ontario and began dancing when she was three years old. She started dancing at a competitive studio in Ottawa before spending her summers with The National Ballet of Canada. While in Ottawa, she also attended Canterbury High School's specialized arts program in her dance stream. When she was 17, she moved from Ottawa, Ontario to New York City to train at The Ailey School. She dropped out after 5 months to begin her professional career.
Portner created some of the choreography for Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell The Musical. In 2015, she choreographed and starred in Justin Bieber's music video for his song "Life is Worth Living". She also created choreography for Bieber's Purpose World Tour.
In 2019, she was nominated for Arena Dance Competition's "Best Female Dancer" of the year. Paper magazine also listed Portner in "PAPER Predictions; 100 people to watch in 2019". Portner has appeared on the covers of the magazines Dance Spirit and Dance Magazine.[citation needed]

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