(Photos submitted) Cyro Baptista (above) and Beat the Donkey will begin the fourth and final season of the SPOT program in Spencer Sunday.

Managing Editor

Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey will be in Spencer this weekend, performing a unique blend of music and offering a variety of special sessions for the public to kick off the fourth and final season of the SPOT/Hancher Family Arts Adventure series.

Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey will perform a concert at 7 p.m., Tuesday in the old Spencer Middle School Auditorium.

"We're basically a music group with a dance element and theater elements. We're a combination, a blend of percussion and dance," explained Cyro through a very thick Brazilian accent.

"We have people from different countries and different backgrounds - just like the United States," Baptista pointed out.

He has been performing for 10 years and originally his idea was considered too far out there.

"In the beginning I wanted to do this band. I wanted 15 people in the band. People would say, 'That was impossible,'" said Baptista who sought performers all over New York.

"In the beginning I got anybody. I would stand in the hallway and say, 'Hey you…' You find amazing people in the subway. In New York, you have so many human resources."

Today, the man who has performed with such well known artists as Yo Yo Ma, Sting, Paul Simon and Herbie Hancock, has a group consisting of street performers and accomplished musicians.

Over the years the band has changed, but the mentality of its leader never has. The man who started playing percussion on a coconut in a Brazilian elementary school, said, "The little band from school wound up playing on TV. That was an amazing experience.

"Not long ago, the human race used to sit around the fire and everybody was a musician. The main thing I want my message to say, music is a great thing we do together"

SPOT is part of the Hancher Family Arts Adventure project, facilitated by the Hancher Auditorium on the campus of Iowa State University.

Charles Swanson, executive director of Hancher Auditorium on the University of Iowa campus brought this year's SPOT artists through Spencer last November in preparation for the fourth and final year of the SPOT program.

Swanson was joined by Baptista, and Victor Quijada and Yan Lee Chan with Rubberbandance, and Spencer-area organizers to ensure that the fourth year is the best.

"We bring them here in advance so we can plan with the committees," Swanson explained. "This is the last year, we want to make sure it's a great show."

Calling it a "Tour of the Tour," Swanson credited the artists with taking time for the advance planning sessions. "The artists are very generous to do these advance trips…They will spend the next few months communicating to make sure its the best event possible for Spencer."

SPOT residencies, have included two artists stopping in four communities, including Spencer, around the state, funded with an $800,000 grant to Hancher from the Wallace Foundation through its "Leadership and Excellence in Arts Participation" (LEAP) program.

In addition to Spencer, SPOT has been working in Iowa City, Marshalltown and Perry over the four-year span of time. The idea behind the program is to bring kids, parents and performers together to create unique and memorable experiences.

CYRO BAPTISTA AND BEAT THE DONKEYSCHEDULE

Sunday, May 4

2:30 p.m. - Instrument Creation with Cyro: Spencer Community Theatre ($3 pre-registration required)

Monday, May 5

10 a.m. - Assemblies to Spencer Middle School Students

Evening - Evening story sharing from his native Brazil at Spencer Library

Tuesday, May 6

The final session of Year 4 of the SPOT/Hancher program is Rubberbandance, in Spencer on June 7-9.

Victor Quijada, a Los Angeles native currently operating out of Montreal, Canada, started the dance group five years ago as a reflection of his life.

"What I've experienced is directly linked to the company. I was born in LA and started breaking when I was 8," explained Quijada. "I was a hip-hopper and then as a teenager I got introduced to modern dance and then ballet."

Quijada worked with the likes of Rudy Perez, a post modern dance pioneer and Twyla Tharp, and performed with the Grands Ballet Canadiens before branching out on his own.

"I left and started my own group and transversing the whole spectrum. This is a real hybrid of all these different styles," said Quijada. "I'm sure it will have a real appeal across the board."

Rubberbandance is comprised of six dancers.