Ian is a gender-nonconforming performance artist and self-identified renaissance person. With a passion for storytelling and discovery, she dives into each project with unabated curiosity and care for the work.
Ian got their start performing from a young age, taking to the stage for the first time at six years old in a community production of The Merry Wives of Windsor (as the cutest little Page you ever did see). Since then, Ian has explored the worlds of music, film, and circus, and plans to continue learning wherever she goes.
Ian began playing the cello at 12 years old, and became immersed in the world of classical music, winning several state awards both as a solo artist and in ensemble. During this time, they also began voice training, and became an accomplished vocalist and part singer, recording an album and developing skills they would later use as a voice actor and stage performer.
In 2015, Ian moved to Chicago to pursue a BFA in acting from the Chicago College of Performing Arts, where she received training in Linklater, Laban, Stanislavski, Meisner, Lecoq clown, stage combat, improv, dialects, on-camera, and stage combat.
Since graduating in 2019, Ian has been making a name for themselves as a dialect and speech coach, working with theaters such as Invictus, Impostors, Music Theater Works, and more! For the last five years, Ian has worked as a Teaching Artist and Arts Administrator for CircEsteem, Chicago’s youth social circus.
“I think there is great joy to be found in exposing oneself to the things that scare you. In challenging myself to persevere through frustration and fear, I’ve learned more and more the importance of finding comfort in discomfort. It is this kind of vulnerability — perseverance through fear — that leads to the most compassionate and human art that exists. And why not have a little fun juggling along the way?”
— Ian R. Q. Slater