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Published on: 4/14/2008
Last Visited: 4/14/2008
Santa Cruz County Stories, Damara Ganley: Local dancer and teacher finds inspiration above the crowds
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Damara Ganley is a very grounded young woman in many ways.She's a devoted wife and daughter.She loves teaching, gardening and writing poetry.
But when she's dancing these days, Damara's feet are anywhere but on the ground.
Last summer, Ganley became one of the newest members of Project Bandaloop, an acclaimed San Francisco-based aerial/vertical dance troupe that has performed for half a million people globally.
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"It's an amazing opportunity," says Ganley, brown eyes shining."As a trained dancer, it gives me new ways to relate to gravity."
She recently returned from her international Bandaloop debut in Istanbul, where the group performed on the outside of a huge glass building.During another performance, in downtown St. Louis, Damara danced about 20 stories up; veteran company members often perform at twice that height.
"I loved dancing as a child," she recalls, "My mother studied ballet and my parents were always dancing for fun."Ganley earned degrees in both anthropology and women's studies at UC Santa Cruz, also studying dance and receiving a certificate in theatre arts.She currently teaches art history at UCSC.
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Ganley has a dancer's body, compact and poised, her animated face topped by a smooth cap of dark hair.She speaks with quiet warmth about her family and her husband, David Reid [a former professional triathlete, now with Santa Cruz County Public Works].Matter-of-factly, she also mentions having scoliosis, or curvature of the spine.
"It's not very visible unless I point it out," she notes."I'd thought dancing professionally wouldn't be an option for me, but that hasn't been the case."
In auditioning for Project Bandaloop, Ganley competed with about 150 dancers to be one of two new members.
"The quality of talent was amazing," she comments."I felt really lucky to be chosen -- and I take the responsibility to heart."
Calling Bandloop "unbelievably awe-inspiring," Damara Ganley says of performing with the group, "Think of trying to craft precision while being blown sideways along a building."
Damara Ganley
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