Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey to Perform at Hancher Family Arts Event

Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey—the multicultural, polyphonic percussion ensemble that is the first artist in this season's "Spot: The Hancher Family Arts Adventure"—will spend Mother's Day weekend in Iowa City after community events and performances in Perry, Marshalltown, and Spencer.

The residency will conclude with a performance at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 11, in Hancher Auditorium on the University of Iowa campus. Tickets are $26/24/23 ($13/12/11.50 for youth) and are available at the Hancher Auditorium box office.

The Mother's Day performance will include a family picnic on the Hancher Green, included in the price of the tickets. It will be preceded by three free events in the Iowa City area on Saturday, May 10:

• A family event with Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey at 10 a.m. in meeting room A of the Iowa City Public Library.
• A drum-making activity at 2 p.m. in the Iowa Children's Museum.
• An interactive performance at 3 p.m. in the Iowa Children's Museum (the afternoon events are free, but there is an admission charge to the museum).

The ensemble's name, Beat the Donkey, comes from the Brazilian expression "Pau Na Mula" meaning "Let's go, let's do it!" Baptista has assembled a wild, torrid world-beat percussive ensemble that blends percussion, tap dance, martial arts, samba, jazz, rock, and funk.

prepared by Arts Center Relations