Annabelle McCarthy was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. As a child she moved to Wellington. In 2019 she began her professional ballet training at Chilton Ballet Academy. In 2021 she was accepted into the Royal New Zealand Ballet Mentor Programme and the New Zealand School of Dance Classical Associate Programme. After completing her studies there she went to Amsterdam in April 2022 to take up a 3-month internship offer at the European School of Ballet. In September 2022 she came to Stuttgart to complete her studies at the Academy of the John Cranko School from which she graduated in 2024.

During the 2024/25 season Annabelle McCarthy is an Apprentice with the Stuttgart Ballet.