Donna Carnow, 28, took the top prize at the 2022 US National Pole Art Champion in Orlando.
“I was inspired by this image of a marionette and this idea of learning how to use the body and setting yourself free. That’s where the entry point for this narrative came from,” she said.
Carnow, who lives in Williamsburg, began her career in pole dancing nine years ago while a college student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.“I loved it even though I was not very good, but I kept working at it. It started off as a hobby but it ended up changing the entire trajectory of my life,” she told The Post. “It’s single-handedly the most powerful thing that I have been able to be a part of.
She spends six to 10 hours a day on the pole as a professional dancer and instructor at Body & Pole in Chelsea, she said. Carnow also performs at Big Apple venues like The Box, The Slipper Room, DROM, House of Yes and 74Wythe.last year, Post columnist Cindy Adams remarked that Carnow’s pole routine was “so expressive she could end up with conditions only a gynecologist can cure.”“There are such a range of people who are so passionate about this form.