Carissa Smith began her training in 2009 at Americas' Ballet School. She grew up with an established education of classical ballet and eventually was also taught in contemporary and modern dance at ABS.

She took part in a multitude of classical and neo-classical productions and danced in the ABS' modern ensemble. Within 2022 she joined Tampa City Ballet as a Trainee, where she took part in various productions ranging from performing the Dying Swan in Candlelight to starring as Alice in Alice in Wonderland to experimenting in numerous contemporary works. In the summers of 2022-24 she danced with Dutch National Ballet Academy, Scapino Ballet in the Netherlands and P.A.R.T.S in Belgium and gained a worldly view on dance.

In the 23/24 season Carissa became a full time dancer with Tampa City Ballet as well as teacher at Tampa City Ballet School and Ovations Dance Academy.