Artist profile: Ian Aegerter in Dancing for Joy’s nativity show

Bellingham native Ian Aegerter, a senior at International Connections Academy, an online high school, is in his fourth year of playing violin with Western Washington University Symphony Orchestra, He will turn 18 on Dec. 22.

He’s playing the role of Herod in Dancing for Joy’s nativity show, “We Danced Our Best For Him.”

Question: When did you become involved in the arts?

Answer: A lot happened when I was 4; I started violin lessons with Jane Perkins and dancing at Dancing for Joy with Maluhia Vander Griend. I also had my first stage role with the former Sudden Valley Barn Theatre. Now I fluctuate between mainly dance and music, as a member of Dancing for Joy’s principal dance company, Jubilee, and as a WWU Orchestra member and student of WWU music professor Grant Donnellan.

I also study partnering with John Bishop at Northwest Ballet Theatre, have apprenticed with Whitman College’s Summer Dance Lab, participated in Marrowstone Summer Music Festival for five years, and have been involved in Mount Baker Repertory Theatre and Bellingham Theatreworks. Sometimes I’m visible on stage and other times I’m hidden from view in the orchestra pit.

Question: What are some of your standout performances?

Answer: My latest performances are both memorable. I was recently in a WWU’s Orchestra’s production of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” in which we went to three elementary schools in Bellingham. We performed as an orchestra, but we also included choreography provided by Pam Kuntz. So, we were in costume, running around playing our instruments and acting out scenes from “Peter and the Wolf,” which was something new, different and challenging, and a great combination of both disciplines to make something special that engaged the kids in our audience.

Question: Are you anything like Herod?

Answer: I like this role because he’s a unique character in the piece. He’s extremely motivated and monomaniacal. I don’t think of myself as a particularly dark person, so it’s interesting for me to embody someone from the other side. It takes a lot of energy to portray the driven, relentless, sole antipathetic character who is in direct contrast to all the other good, sentimental characters. I find it cathartic and exhilarating.

Question: Why do you enjoy performing?

Answer: I believe that it is the best way to experience and appreciate art. Real knowledge of the artist, and of art, is to have experienced it firsthand. Performance heightens your appreciation of other arts, and of life, too.

Question: What special about Dancing for Joy’s show?

Answer: “We Danced Our Best For Him” is perennially a good sendoff into the holiday season. It isn’t simply a Christmas pageant, but presents the whole story: the anticipation, obstacles, tensions, danger, and the rejoicing surrounding the birth of Jesus. It’s a huge, coordinated effort by staff, parents and students of all ages, from the little sheep to the members of Jubilee company.

Question: What are your plans?

Answer: I plan on going to college or a conservatory to study all aspects of music. I might continue dance, but I feel like my passion is really in music, whether it’s composition or performance. Who knows? I might wind up combining my interests in these two fields.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Artist profile: Ian Aegerter in Dancing for Joy’s nativity show."