Donna Carnow (she/her) is a pole dancer, aerial pole artist, national pole champion, and human pretzel-tornado.
Donna is the 2022 US National Pole Art Champion where “she POLE the show” (New York Post). Her performative abilities have been described as the “production’s true showstopper” (New York Times) and celebrated in Variety, The New Yorker, The New York Post, Theatermania, and more. Donna is currently a resident circus artist in Spiegelworld’s high-octane gem “The Hook” in Atlantic City, NJ. Donna has performed in the world-renown Circus Flic Flac in Germany for many seasons where she “performs aerial contortions that look completely unreal - all with perfect ease” on aerial pole and “gives the powerful art of pole dancing a new, enchanting dimension”. Other notable credits include P-VALLEY STARZ, Don Toliver, Company XIV, Virgin Voyages, STAMPTOWN, The Box (NYC, Soho), The Hard Rock Casino Atlantic City, The Slipper Room, House of Yes, The McKittrick Hotel, and her Drama Desk award winning performance “LUST” in Seven Deadly Sins NYC (Off-Broadway) voiced by Cynthia Nixon. Donna is the co-creator of the aerial pole collective VERTICAL DREAMSCAPE with her duo partner, Gina Alm. They that have toured their award-winning show DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN (★★★★★ - Broadway Baby) across New York and Europe. You can see their full festival run at Edinburgh Fringe at Roxy Assembly Central August 2026.
Donna teaches in NYC and around the world via workshops and her online platform as a master-trainer. Her technique-focused classes are creatively activated by her fiery energy, anatomical knowledge, passion for her students’ growth, and her belief in the magic of movement. Originally from Chicago, Donna hails from an experimental modern dance background and holds a B.F.A in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she discovered pole dancing 14 years ago.
14+ years of pole dance industry experience
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CORPORATE // Viktor & Rolf (L’Oreal), GABRIEL RIZZI LAB, The McKittrick Hotel, Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas, Cirque Central, Kaleidoscope Entertainment, Battery Powered x Battery Hotel, Evgeniya Events, Elán Artists, Caché Life
TV/MUSIC VIDEO // STARZ PVALLEY, “NO POLE” x Don Toliver Music Video (Movement Director)
NIGHTLIFE VARIETY // Spiegelworld - The Hook, The Box, Reinard International FZE, STAMPTOWN, House of Yes, The Box Soho, The Stranger, Stage Time NYC, The Slipper Room, Red Pavillion, The Wondershow, Let Them Eat Cake, Parlor Particular, Alternative Assembly Reykjavik, Purrlesque Reykjavik, Zia Productions
DANCE + THEATER // Company XIV, Seven Deadly Sins NYC, Vertical Dreamscape, AERA, PoleSpeak,
Tjarnarbio, Tell Tale Trick, Exquisite Corpse, SuspiriaCIRCUS // Spiegelworld, Circus Flic Flac, World Circus Arts Championships (Viva Fest 2025), Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Reykjavik Fringe Festival, Rochester Fringe Festival - Cirque du Fringe, Hupstate Circus Festival, FinFringe, Cirque Haus Festival
DINNER SHOWS // Schtick a Pole In It, It’s A Ship Show, DROM
CRUISE SHIPS // Virgin Voyages - Scarlet Lady
POLE SPORT // International Pole Convention, Pole Expo, Pole Sport Organization (Chicago, Northeast, US Nationals), Pole Theatre USA
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PSO 2021 Northeast Pole Art Champion (Boston)
PSO 2019 Central Pole Champion (Chicago)
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ASIA
Intuitive Living & Moving (Mumbai, India)
EUROPE
Clanfit (Edinburgh, UK)
Erial Pole (Reykjavik, Iceland)
North Pole Studio (Stockholm, Sweden)
Poleland Dusseldorf (Dusseldorf, Germany)
Pole Studio Donostia (San Sebastián, Spain)
Sometimes Pole & Aerial (Oslo, Norway)
Studio NoXcuse (Ghent, Belgium)
Uden Aerial Arts Studio (Uden, Netherlands)
Venus Pole (London, UK)
NORTH AMERICA
Ly Le’s Pole Studio (CA)
Kalabante Productions (MTL)
Aloft Circus Arts (IL)
Defy Gravity Pole Fitness & Aerial Arts (IL)
The Brass Ring Chicago (IL)
NEXXUS Pole (IN)
Boston Pole Fitness (MA)
Pole in the Wall (MA)
Aum Polarity (MI)
Aerial Loft (NY)
Body & Pole (NY)
Cirque Haus (NY)
CorePower Yoga (NY)
Everybody’s Nimble (NY)
Fit Factory Long Island (NY)
IncrediPOLE (NY)
OM Factory (NY)
Sweet Water Dance & Yoga (NY)
The Chrome Barre (TN)
Utah Valley University Department of Dance (UT)
I am a high octane pole artist
I believe in the magic of movement and in the people who conjure it. My work is a vehicle for all to witness the embodiment of both strength and vulnerability; athlete and artist.
I chase the sensations of flight, swelling momentum, spiral, torque, and centrifugal force both inside my body and around a metal apparatus. Through contorted concoctions, dynamic physicality, and steely grace I pursue pathways that allow me to swim through the sky and dance in the air.
