WanTing Zhao began her training at Beijing Dance Academy and continued her studies at The Rock School for Dance Education and San Francisco Ballet School. She joined San Francisco Ballet in 2011 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2019.

Her repertoire includes George Balanchine’s Agon, Coppélia, Prodigal Son, Rubies, Symphony in C, Divertimento No. 15, The Four Temperaments, Scotch Symphony, and Serenade, Val Caniparoli’s Emergence and Double Stop, Edwaard Liang’s Symphonic Dances, Benjamin Millepied’s The Chairman Dances, Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadère, Wayne McGregor’s Borderlands, Trey McIntyre’s Your Flesh Shall be a Great Poem, Mark Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet, Hans van Manen’s Variations for Two Couples, John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, Rudolf Nureyev’s Raymonda, Arthur Pita’s Salome, Yuri Possokhov’s Swimmer and …two united in a single soul…, Jerome Robbins’ The Cage and Glass Pieces, Liam Scarlett’s Die Toteninsel and Fearful Symmetries, Alexei Ratmansky’s From Foreign Lands, Piano Concerto No. 1, Shostakovich Trilogy, and The Seasons, Dwight Rhoden’s LET’S BEGIN AT THE END and The Promised Land, Jamar Roberts’ Resurrection, Helgi Tomasson’s 7 for Eight, Criss-Cross, Don Quixote, The Fifth Season, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Prism, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake, Stanton Welch’s Bespoke, Page, and Guide to Strange Places, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Bound To, Cinderella, and Continuum.

Zhao performed the role of Rosaline in the 2015 film of Tomasson’s Romeo and Juliet as part of Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance. Her guest performances include Tahoe Dance Camp, Montana Ballet, and A&A Ballet in Chicago. She has been featured in several modeling, television, and advertising campaigns including Amazon Prime’s Étoile and campaigns by Calvin Klein, Banana Republic, Wolford, Disney, Athleta, and Apple Watch x Hermes.

Zhao joined Boston Ballet as a principal dancer in 2025.