2025 Professional Finalists
Anastasiia Bulhakova
"In 2013, I attended my first pole dance class completely by chance—my regular dance class had been canceled, and I didn’t want to skip training. Since then, I haven’t parted ways with the pole.
I lived in Ukraine all my life. I had no athletic background—my body was weak but flexible, and I had a strong desire to learn pole tricks. After two years of training, I decided to try my first competition, and after that, I couldn’t stop. Three years after I started, in 2016, I began teaching pole tricks to both kids and adults.
I genuinely loved teaching. I guided students from their very first steps to the stage, where many of them earned top placements.
At the same time, I actively competed in many championships across Ukraine, and by 2022, I had become a multiple-time champion.
In 2022, the war in Ukraine forced me to make the difficult decision to leave.
That’s how I found myself in sunny Miami, where I met fellow pole dancers who brought me to a beautiful studio—where I still train and teach today.
I truly believe that Pole Dance is one of the best sports for women. It’s a real community that welcomes you anywhere in the world. I was definitely lucky to find myself through this sport.
It helps me reconnect with myself, express my emotions, and stay in great physical shape. But it’s so much more than that—it’s a state of soul."
Diana Printsev
Diana Printsev is based in Ontario, Canada, and is an instructor at Pole Fitness Kingston. She began her pole journey in 2015 and has been actively training, teaching, and performing ever since. Diana has competed and placed in various pole competitions, most recently earning placements at the Canadian Pole and Aerial Championship Nationals and PSO Toronto in the Professional division. She’s excited to share her newest routine on the USPC stage.
Hannah Hiroko
Hannah is a Los Angeles native who has been training and performing in aerial arts since she was 13. In 2020 she transitioned from lyra and hoop to pole and felt like she had finally found her true apparatus. Her focus is on contemporary and lyrical pole, but she loves trying out all styles including heels and power pole. Hannah initially taught at Pōl in Los Angeles and now teaches classes out of her garage in Sacramento, where she moved for medical school. When she's not working at the hospital or training on the pole, Hannah also loves rock climbing in Lake Tahoe and hanging out with her two dogs Linus and Corey.
Joshui
Joshui is a queer pole dancing acupuncturist and engineer. They are the 2024 Pole Theatre USA Professional Classique Champion and the creator and co-producer of STRUT: A Queer Pole Cabaret in San Francisco. Other credits include guest lecturer and performer at The Exploratorium for "The Science of Pole Dancing," featured dancer with Kat Robichaud's Misfit Cabaret opening for the Dresden Dolls, and dancing the role of The Sugar Plum Fairy for Flux Vertical Theatre's "Nutcracker Nightmare Fantasy." They teach at many of the Bay Area's incredible pole studios with a focus on sustainability, longevity, and dancing from a place of authentic expression.
Marisol Miranda
Marisol Miranda is a stage, TV, & film actor and writer from NYC. She took up pole dancing in 2023 during the SAG-AFTRA strike. 9 months later, she won gold at PSO Pacific (Level 3 Championship) surprising the $!*# out of herself.
Off the pole, you can find her on screen playing the victim on ABC’s 9-1-1, bossing up on Hulu’s The Rookie: Feds, or belly dancing on HBO’s High Maintenance.
Marisol is honored to be a finalist and make her US Pole Champions Pro Division debut.
Follow her comp journey behind-the-scenes, training, choreographing, and crying @marisolmiranda
Meg Austin
Meg Austin is a Seattle-based pole dancer, aerialist, hand balancer, and contortionist. After 13 years of gymnastics, Meg found pole as a new athletic outlet. Her signature performance style melds dynamicism, athleticism, grace, and flexibility. Meg has performed and competed on stages across the world. When she's not performing, you can find her teaching at Raven Studios Seattle.
Niara
Niara is a classically trained ballet dancer and former NBA hip hop dancer, born and raised in Belgium. She has medaled at pole competitions in New York, Iceland, and Italy, and is currently based out of San Diego where she lives with her husband and 3 kids.
Nicky Elizabeth
Nicky Elizabeth is a pole artist from Alberta, Canada. A former professional dancer and lifelong movement lover, she began her pole journey in 2019 and was instantly drawn to its unique blend of dance, artistry, and athleticism.
Nicky placed in Pole Art at Pole Theatre Canada as well as in Pole Sport at the IPSF World Championships in Sweden in 2024.
Grateful to be part of such a talented community, she looks forward to sharing the stage with artists who inspire her and continually push the boundaries of pole.
Sara Joel
Sara Joel was an original cast member of Cirque du Soleil's "Zumanity" where she co-choreographed and performed the"Body2Body" duet in over 1,000 shows. Ms Joel gave her first pole performance almost a decade ago while 8 months pregnant with her 4th child at "Schtick a Pole in it" in NYC. She made her competition debut in 2018 and won the Amateur Division at USPDF. In 2020 Ms Joel placed 1st in PSO Russian Exotic Level 5. In 2024 and 2025 she placed 1st in Pole Art Italy Women's Masters Elite category. Sara also won Pole Theatre USA Professional Drama category in 2025. She is thrilled to be performing at U.S. Pole Champions!
Sarah
Sarah took her first pole class in 2015 with a tiny university activity club, and got hooked immediately. She has a background in gymnastics and powerlifting. When she isn't on the pole, she loves rock climbing or hanging out with her cats. She's grateful to have pole dancing as an athletic and creative outlet, as well as the supportive community that comes with it!
2025 Amateur Finalists
Amanda O
Amanda is a passionate pole dancer based in Indianapolis, where she has spent the past several years exploring movement, self-love, and self-expression through pole. Rediscovering her love for dance, she now shares that passion by training and teaching at Chrome Fitness. Known for infusing emotion and storytelling into every performance, Amanda uses the stage as a canvas for her creativity. She’s honored to perform at USPC and to share a piece of her heart with the pole community.
Fantasia
Shortly after winning her first-ever competition at PSO Atlantic this year, she’s ready to take on the West Coast! Originally from Maryland, she is moving to California in August to continue her education as a kinesiology student.
“Fantasia” has many definitions, but her favorite is—as defined by Merriam-Webster—“a work in which the author’s fancy roves unrestricted”. She believes her best choreographies take inspiration from burlesque artists, her prop of choice, and personal fantasies, and she cannot wait to share her next piece with you!
Grace Caroline
Pole has been the source of SO much happiness for me this past year, and my pole community brings me so much joy every day. I’m a full-time nurse, part-time student, and proud mom of four kids. I was a gymnast as a kid, so finding this outlet to move and express my body has been life-changing for me. I’ve spent this last year doing a lot of pole firsts: first performance, first competition, and first pole camp! I’m excited to continue on this journey, learning as much as I can and making even more friends along the way!
Lisel
My name is Lisel and I was born and raised on the lovely Caribbean island of Trinidad. I moved to this country when I was 18 years old.
I began my pole dance journey in 2014, drawn to the art form by its raw expression, athleticism, and unapologetic beauty. What started as a curiosity quickly became a passion — a space where I felt most alive, most myself.
In 2016, life took me on a different path. I moved, grew, and stepped away from dance to focus on building a family. Over the next several years, I was blessed with two beautiful children who are now 6 and 8 — my greatest joy and my deepest motivation. Motherhood has taught me resilience, patience, and a new kind of strength that no studio could. But somewhere in the stillness of routines and responsibilities, I felt a quiet calling — a pull back to movement, to expression, to the version of myself I had once found through dance.
In 2024, after nearly eight years away, I stepped back into the studio. What I found wasn’t just the familiar rhythm of spins and climbs — I found a renewed sense of self. My return to pole wasn’t about picking up where I left off; it was about beginning again, with more purpose, more clarity, and more heart.
Today, I dance not just for myself, but for my children — to show them that dreams don’t expire, that discipline and passion can coexist with real life, and that it’s never too late to pursue them. I dance because I believe movement is a language, and mine tells a story of strength, persistence, and passion.
In addition to performing, I teach and choreograph, and I absolutely adore sharing this passion with my students. Watching others find their voice through movement — watching them break through fear, fall in love with their strength, and chase their own dreams — is one of the greatest gifts of this path. I believe that when we lift each other, we all rise.
Morgan
Morgan has been poling for about 4 years now with Phoenix Fitness and Dance in Manassas, VA. She has competed at Pole Sport Organization twice and is honored and excited to travel across the country to compete with USPC this year!
She is a Kickboxing instructor at Kickhouse in Chantilly and performs with theaters in the DC area including Prince William Little Theater and Synetic Theater. She hopes to showcase her extensive dance and theater experience and hopes the audience enjoys the piece!
Ping S. Long
Lijia had the incredible honor of competing at USPC in 2024 as Mulan Rouge, and this year, she's excited to be coming back to introduce.... Ping S. Long! Aka Mulan Rouge's dragsona.
Lijia started out with too many hobbies as a child, and over the years, the problem has only gotten worse. She loves pole, Chinese dance, contemporary, ballet, hiphop, film-making, martial arts, writing, art, acting, and music. For her, all forms of art are different mediums to express herself, embody characters, and tell stories. While she had a slow start after first trying pole in 2015, she finally fell in love in 2022 with the athleticism, artistry, community, and creativity of pole dancing. She has been training at Inspiration Studios and obsessively bringing her wildest ideas to life on the pole ever since! Outside her creative pursuits, she’s secretly a Bay Area school psychologist who spends her down time being queer, bothering her two cats and loving partner, and plotting the revolution.
When she first envisioned this piece as a deeply unserious joke for a student showcase, her only goals going in were to be gay, make other people gay, and have fun. She was so nervous she almost backed out, but it turned out to be such a blast that she accidentally fell in love with drag. Since then, it's been a journey evolving this piece to be even more fun and even gayer, and she can't wait to introduce Ping S. Long to the USPC stage!
Reiko
Schuyler Torres, stage name Reiko, always partook in activities that were athletic and artistic. Reiko trained in ballet and modern professionally from the ages of 13 to 17 before transitioning to pole dancing and circus arts. Despite leaving a dance career behind, the dance training and lessons she has learned from it inspire and influence her pole routines.
Saint Sawyer
Sam Sawyer is a Los Angeles-based pole dancer and performer known for their storytelling and theatrical style. Sam has a background in theater and loves crafting performances that inspire others, and make people feel.
Sam has competed before in pole and has had the honor of placing at different comps including 1st place in Pole Theatre USA – Drama (Amateur) 2025 and 2nd place at US Pole Champs (Amateur Division) 2024. With three years of training at The Vertitude LA, Sam is honored and excited to be a part of U.S. Pole Champs 2025.
Vira-Trix
Vira is a passionate pole dancer of 5 years whose growth truly skyrocketed when she found her home studios The Gem and The Vertitude. Her first competition a year ago lit a fire within. She excels at storytelling through performance, from creative characters to personal narratives, aiming to inspire others to see their own potential.
A wife and mother of three, Vira also enjoys cuddling her playful Rottweiler when she's not with her family or teaching. Her goal is to motivate and connect with others through movement and expression.
WickedEv
WickedEv has enjoyed a long love affair with dance and performance. In 2018 she discovered pole and aerial, loving the way it expanded her movement repertoire and challenged her. She had found a new style that made her feel strong and empowered and, along with it, came a new positive and loving community. When she's not in the studio you can find her playing video games, crocheting, reading, or wandering around Disneyland.