Trails & Vistas Presents Diverse Artistic Talent

FEATURED ARTIST
Capacitor

Capacitor, a renowned ensemble of dancers, headlines the 2010 art hike with an orchestra of moving bodies set to the earthy sounds of the didgeridoo. San Francisco's interdisciplinary dance company collaborates with the scientific and art community to create mind-expanding, heart-gripping live performances. According to the company, "Obsessed with the mechanics of the human body as well as machines that propel the body through space, Capacitor artists have become masters of rigging systems, coutures of wearable sculpture, and engineers of large-scale props designed to stretch the limits of physical poetry."

www.capacitor.org

FEATURED ARTIST
Banana Slug Band

Bring your favorite kid to see the Banana Slug String Band for the Sunday, September 12th Trails and Vistas art hike..It's toe-tappin' earth-lovin' music and science education at its best! The Banana Slug Band brings a fun-filled eco-music vocals and guitar performance which will display their commitment to fostering positive attitudes about the environment, promoting music appreciation, and sparking a playful sense of wonder in all people.The Banana Slug’s musicianship is as strong as is its message. The band has performed at hundreds of venues across the U.S. and Canada including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - FOUNDER
Nancy Tieken Lopez

"My art is about connection – to a place, to the earth, to people's lives."

Nancy Tieken Lopez started art hikes when receiving her Masters of Fine Arts from San Jose State University over fifteen years ago. Nancy studies included an emphasis in bronze sculpture and installation art and lead to more ephemeral materials of earth installations with music, dance and poetry.

Nancy moved to Truckee 10 years ago and founded Trails and Vistas art hike in 2004 collaborating with local non-profits InnerRhythms Dance Theatre, Truckee Donner Land Trust, and Arts For the Schools.
www.trailsandvistas.org

Jayatu

Through the power of words and the magic of presence, Jayatu carries audiences right to the joyful heart of wild mountains and verdant inner landscapes. He enlivens the inspired voices of John Muir and other wilderness seers and through dynamic narrative reawakens listeners’ natural kinship with the living land around them. Jatayu has performed and taught as an environmental storyteller across the country and abroad since 1985.

Angelique Benicio

Illustrator and sculptor Angelique Benicio has the innate ability to convey impressions of the living experience with a child's sense of wonder and introspection. This year, she brings an element of mystery and magic to Trails and Vistas.

Angelique Benicio is a published children's book illustrator. Her U.S. publications include illustration for a novel titled, "Sarah's Waterfall" by Ellery Akers, published this year by Safer Society Press. Her artwork has also been published by a variety of American children's puzzles, posters and gift companies.

She worked in France as a freelance illustrator and as a painter and sculptor for French cinema production.

Shawna Spiteri (Celtic harp)

A Bay Area native, Shawna has a bachelor’s degree in theater arts from San Francisco State University. Having a particular interest in Celtic and early music, she took up harp in 1994, studying with Diana Stork (with whom she formed the local harp trio Triskela) and Cheryl Ann Fulton. Shawna teamed up with guitarist/flute player Chris Waltz and fiddler Lee White in the spring of 2009 to work on traditional Celtic, original and other world music repertoire for the band Amarin. Shawna also serves as music director for Bella Donna, an Italian Renaissance performance troupe.

Aimee Lowenstern

Aimee Lowenstern will be performing her poem "The Dreamers of Dreams" this year at Trails and Vistas. Aimee enjoys writing, reading and performing and studies at Sierra School of Performing Arts. Aimee says "I really have enjoyed Trails and Vistas through the years. I have hiked Trails and Vistas three years in a row and I enjoy seeing the magic unraveling."

Molly Lynch

My intention as an artist is to listen
quietly to the inner stirrings of creativity and bring it into
physical form. As I hear this inner voice I find great joy and
satisfaction in answering the calling and expressing my art in this way. Like clouds becoming dreams these two worlds also mix and mingle to contiune presenting the deep mysteries of our unique expression.

Annie Carouba

"The solid earth beneath our feet is the perfect canvas. If we tread with the utmost care and thought, we can become the brilliant painters, the creators of the most beautiful kind!"

This is Annie Carouba's fervent wish for this years participants of Trails and Vistas.

An artist/energy worker/lover of life and the earth, she brings her own unique gifts to the trail. She is there to surprise and delight as you meander the path and discover the secrets of natures perfection.

Cathee vanRossem-St.Clair

Cathee vanRossem-St.Clair, artist, poet, storyteller and Artist-in-Residence for Arts For the Schools

Since I lifted my first crayon, storytelling and language -- the language of birds, the language of the earth, and the silent language we humans use to interact with our inner and outer landscapes, have fed my art. Images from dreams, observations, and quirky musings push their way into my sketchbooks to this day.

FEATURED ARTIST
Angelika Healing Music

Angelika is an internationally acclaimed performer, composer and recording artist whose main intention is to promote Oneness, Peace, Healing and Good Will amongst all people everywhere through her inspirational music. The vibration of deep peace and joy in this music can cut through the restlessness of the mind very quickly by flowing softly into the heart without effort. Angelika sings ancient Sanskrit healing chants, mantras, prayers in different languages and her own original songs, sharing love, celebration, comfort and wisdom, accompanied by a handmade tamboura/ monochord and 12-string guitar. Many listeners comment on the healing qualities of Angelika’s voice and music.

Elizabeth Archer

Elizabeth is the Artistic & Executive Director of InnerRhythms Dance Theatre and the Performance Director for Trails and Vistas art hike. Elizabeth believes that the opportunity to work with young people and share the rewards of participating in the performing arts is a positive way to give something back to our planet.
www.innerrhythms.org

Allison Meetze

I am an aerialist, performing on Aerial hoop, hammock, fabric, and combinations of apparatus'.
I first saw an aerialist while on a rock climbing trip to Thailand. She astounded me with her beauty, grace and heights. It made such an impact, that i then searched out a circus school to attend. Taking a couple classes a week wasn't enough so i went to the fabric store and the climbing store to purchase gear and climbed up the tree in my front yard to hang my fabric. That was six years ago now and i am still as infatuated with aerial performance as ever before.

Ian Ethan

Known mainly for his pioneering work with the 18-string double-neck guitar, Ian Ethan comes to Trails and Vistas this year with another seldom-seen instrument. The small, unassuming 12-key African Kalimba comes to life in his hands as both a rhythmic and a melodic voice--a voice whose irresistible and intriguingly unique tone is almost impossible to forget. While the instrument itself may be deeply rooted in the musical tradition of Africa, the music is brand new and original, representing another step forward in Ian's one-way journey into the musical equivalent of unexplored "open land." Ian will be performing songs from his soon-to-be-released kalimba album, alongside the celebrated and fittingly-innovative dance troupe Capacitor.
Photo by Ceaserphotography

InnerRhythms Dance Theatre

InnerRhythms Dance Theatre brings unforgettable and riveting performances to Trails and Vistas. The InnerRhythms goal is to offer a thorough education in dance equivalent to the interests and abilities of the serious student. At the Training Centre, they offer classes in Classical Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Modern ,Tap and MiniRhythms for mini dancers. The techniques in each of the dance styles at the Centre are specifically designed to complement and enhance one another. It is highly recommended that students expose themselves to more than one dance style in order to experience a more complete development. Additionally, as students gain strength and maturity, InnerRhythms provides opportunity for young artists to take their talent to the next level by participating in our Performance Companies, InnerRhythms Dance Theatre and our award winning Hip-Hop troupe. RhythMatriX.
www.innerrhythms.org

Chris Waltz

Singer/Songwriter and Composer Chris Waltz has been hailed as the Josh Groban of Celtic Music bringing out the more romantic side of Irish Music. Chris is a musical mystic, who integrates the exotic sounds of middle eastern and gypsy music into his compositions. Waltz performs as a solo Folksinger, with his Celtic World Music Group Amarin and with the Celtic Twilight Irish Music and Dance show that he created, produced and directed. Chris will be collaborating with a harpist on flute carrying you into ethereal realms and with an aerialist inviting you to dream amongst the clouds with music and dance.

Jean Fournier

Jean Louise Fournier is a poet and dancer with a strong connection to place. Her work reflects a close affinity for her natural surroundings. Fournier has performed her poetry at Trails and Vistas for the past four years. With a master's degree in Creative Arts in Education, she teaches for the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. Her poetry has been published in many publications including "A Collection of Poems and Stories by the Jibboom Street Writers" and Perspectives Art News. Fournier has entertained audiences with readings at dance performances and ceremonies such as weddings and memorial services.

Kira Yannetta

Kira Yannetta is a writer and Renaissance woman deeply committed to connecting with Spirit through meditation, creative arts and the wonders of nature.

Michelle Turley

Michelle Turley L.Ac, MTCM, will be leading the “Meditation Hike” on Saturday, September 11 at 4:30. The Meditative hike will connect people with nature while walking in silence. Moving in tune with nature with the ancient practice of qigong, participants will be inspired by the art and music of Trails and Vistas and one’s own movements of qigong. Michelle practices Traditional Chinese Medicine of acupuncture, and teaches courses that improve knowledge of eastern thought and theory and energy medicine.  “My goal is to educate people about the wisdom of ancient medicine and connect them back to nature and allow their bodies to heal naturally. I am interested in working with people that are interested in changing their lifestyle and healing from their core.”