Art hike explores: 'Reflections and Rhythms'

Connect to nature's beauty and explore your creative power within at the eighth annual Trails and Vistas "Reflections and Rhythms" art hike on Sept.17-18 at Spooner Lake, co-sponsored by the Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park.

What started as a grass roots event by local artists has blossomed into a collaborations between nature and art that attracts visitors from all over.

Experience art and nature in a completely new way with dance, music, poetry and art around a reflective alpine lake graced with lush meadows, and grand aspens and pines.

Audience members walk along a gentle two and a half mile single-track trail around Spooner Lake, with an experienced guide, pausing at creative, artistic expressions. Musicians, poets, sculptors, dancers and performers interact with participants to create a cherished experience between people and between individuals and place.

"The purpose of Trails and Vistas is to reestablish bonds between individuals and between individuals and nature," Trails and Vistas Artistic Director Nancy Tieken Lopez said in a written statement. "Nature belongs to all of us and putting art in this context changes the experience and the audience."

Performing artists include:

• Award-winning children's artist and REMO-endorsed drum circle facilitator Norman Jones. He is from The Rhythm Child Network, a group formed in 2003 that uses drums and movement to foster creativity. By using the drum as a vehicle for building confidence, communicating positive messages and encouraging group dynamics, Rhythm Child helps people connect with their inner rhythms.

• Capacitor, a renowned ensemble of dancers from the Bay area, will dazzle the eyes with an orchestra of aerial dance and music, creating a mind-expanding, heart-gripping live performance.

• Chris Spheeris will return to Trails and Vistas with inspirational music on guitar and keyboards. Spheeris is a composer and performer, and started his musical journey when he was 13 years old living in Greece. Reviews from past attendees say Spheeris' music is "Simply OUT-Standing! Incredible energy, thoughtful inspiration, and just plain fun."

• Reno's Taiko Drummers will return for the Saturday shows only with their massive drums that will beat their powerful messages of strength and reverence.

• Since the beginning of Trails and Vistas, dancers from the InnerRhythms Dance Theatre have brought unforgettable performances to the art hike. "Discover your own rhythm," says Elizabeth Archer, Trails and Vistas' co-director and the director of InnerRhythms Dance Theatre. "Trust that there is a rhythm inside of you. Once you discover it, you are completely loyal to it."

• Famous for her magnificent egg art and inspirational storytelling, Cathee vanRossem-St. Clair, a Truckee resident, returns to Trails and Vistas. St. Clair's painted eggs have earned national recognition. One of her eggs, The California Thrasher, created for the Whitehouse Christmas Tree, is now in the National Archives.

• Another Tahoe-Truckee local resident, Emily Tessmer of Orenda Blu Music, will share sacred chants during the art hike. "The river of music has carried me back to my ancestors," she explains. "I feel the embrace of the divine like never before. The miracles are continually abounding in my life and my heart calls for the caress of my grandfathers and grandmothers in their wisdom."

• Angelika's Healing Music, internationally acclaimed performer, composer and recording artist whose main intention is to promote oneness, peace, healing and goodwill through music, sings ancient Sanskrit healing chants and mantras in different languages and performs original songs accompanied by a handmade tamboura monochord and 12-string guitar. 

The art hike is collaboration between artists and nonprofit collaborators including the Truckee Donner Land Trust, InnerRhythms Dance Theatre and the KidZone Children's Museum and Co-sponsored by the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.

Tickets are offered at 2009 rates, are available at www.trailsandvistas.org. The cost is $30 for adults and $10 for children. Tickets usually sell out.