Ai Nguyen

A month before the COVID-19 pandemic, a friend took Ai to a pole-dance class in Brooklyn. She loved it and began training at studios regularly—until lockdown hit. With uncertain work hours, Ai had a pole installed at home to focus on stretching and self-teaching until businesses reopened.

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She resumed training at studios and began competing in spring 2021, became XPERT certified, and started teaching in fall 2021. 

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In fall 2022, Ai founded Subtle Asian Polers, a community for Asian-American artists. Its success led to the formation of an LLC in spring 2023, and The Bushwick Daily featured her story. At The Red Pavilion, Ai has produced The Forbidden Dream, a consistently well-sold cabaret spotlighting Asian-American talent, for nearly three years.​​

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In winter 2024, Ai opened Pixie Dust Pole & Aerial in Manhattan’s Theatre District. A year later, she opened Pixie Dust Aerial in the Garment District.

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Fun fact: Ai's career was not always in performing arts. She used to work full time as a behavior analyst and still maintains her certification.