Meredith Rainey began dancing at 15 in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale. He became the first African-American to join the Milwaukee Ballet (1985). He was invited to join the newly formed Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet (1987). Among other awards and fellowships, Rainey has been the recipient of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship (1995 & 2002), the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artist as Catalyst Grant (2001), the Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts (2002), a finalist for the Pew Fellowship in the Arts (2003), and a Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Grant (2010). Rainey has commissioned works for Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet X, Delaware Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, National Ballet De Cali, Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble and institutions such as The University of the Arts, Drexel University, Stockton University, Goucher College, Swarthmore College and Bryn Mawr College. His work has been performed in North and South America and throughout Spain. In 2009 Rainey founded and directed Carbon Dance Theatre. Rainey and Tania Isaac joined forces in 2016 and created (In)Visible and Request through their project Pitch an incubator for their collaborative work. In the Summer of 2018 Meredith became a member of the first University of the Arts Master of Fine Arts in Dance cohort and graduated in May of 2020.