In 2012, Robert J. Priore made a splash on these very pages.
"That was kind of when I was single, and just trying to put my face out there, get some recognition," says Priore, who made it clear in his 2012 Metro Weekly Nightlife Coverboy profile that he was a dancer and choreographer. And that was very much the point of the exercise. Ever since Priore moved to the D.C. area in 2010 for a job with CityDance, the Buffalo, N.Y., native has made it his mission to increase exposure to local dance and dancers, especially among the gay community. "The LGBT community plays a large part in contemporary dance," he says. "I want to get people more knowledgeable and involved in the really budding talent that we have here."
Robert Priore
(Photo by Julian Vankim)
Next weekend, Priore will debut a new work, Emergence, as part of a full program celebrating his choreography and the many dancers he's taught and worked with at CityDance, both current students and alumni. The show, at the CityDance Studio Theater at Strathmore, also features professional dancers from Ohio's Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, where Priore worked before moving to D.C. The son of a theater costume designer and an accountant for a large food company, Priore has always had great support as a dancer from his family. Case in point: "I have 15 relatives coming from Buffalo to see the show."
In recent years, dance pieces by Priore have been performed by students he's taught at CityDance as well as at annual events such as VelocityDC Dance Festival and the MetroDC Dance Awards. The 27-year-old is also a member of the modern dance group Company E.
You might also recognize Priore if you've ever eaten at B Too, the 14th Street restaurant started by former Top Chef contestant Bart Vandaele. Priore serves as a host. Clearly, Priore has plenty of energy. So much so, even a recent root canal couldn't slow him down. "I've always had bad teeth, since I was a little kid, so I'm used to having work done," says Priore, who was feeling fine and ready for an interview a mere hour after the dental procedure. Need a break, Mr. Priore? "Oh, no, I like to talk too much."
METRO WEEKLY: Let's start by getting personal. You're originally from Buffalo?
ROBERT J. PRIORE: I'm from Buffalo, New York. Western New York. It's a very interesting place to grow up and a really good place to go back and visit, because so much continues to change. Every time I go back, it's amazing. It just seems like it's becoming such a more vibrant place from what I remember as a kid. Theater is going really well. There's a dance company now in Buffalo that's doing really well. I have a couple friends that dance there. '
MW: Did you play sports growing up or were you set on dance from the get-go?
PRIORE: Oh, my God, my poor father. He tried every sport. I played soccer, I played baseball, I played basketball, I played tennis. I swam. I did everything until I was about 12, and then I was like, "I really don't like this." And my dad was like, "You know what, you've been a trouper, you've tried it all. So you can go dance." And now my mom and dad are my biggest fans. But it's funny. They definitely tried me in everything before they let me really start to dance. Sports-wise, I think I played everything but hockey and football. I was in Little League for baseball. I played tee ball before that. I played indoor soccer, I played outdoor soccer. I skied for a year. I tried ice-skating and speed-skating.
It was important for my parents for me and my sister to be active. And my sister was a dancer and she was a cheerleader. In school, I played instruments. Both of my parents wanted us to play instruments. So I played the clarinet, then I played the saxophone, then I played the bassoon, then I played the bass clarinet. I tried each one for a year and I sucked at all of them equally. So by the time I got into eighth grade, when I got into high school, I was like, "I'm not playing an instrument anymore, I'm not good at it." When I say I tried a little bit of everything growing up, I really did. I think it was my parents trying to make me to be well-rounded.
MW: It sounds like you were also just curious enough to be willing to try a little bit of everything.
PRIORE: Yeah, even as an adult I really like to try everything. Like, I don't eat seafood, but I usually will try it if I'm out with people. And it's not just with food. When I was in Peru, I went parasailing -- or paragliding? I don't remember, I'm sorry. It's where you have the parachute strapped to your back, and then someone's in it with you, so there's a professional with you. I went with my co-workers in Company E, and they all were like, "Let's go parasailing." Of course, I'm the last one to pay and somehow the first person that they make jump off the cliff. So you put this backpack on, basically, and you have a Peruvian man standing behind you in the same harness. Basically sitting on top of you. And he goes, "Okay, run." Just take a couple steps and you jump off one of these cliffs on the seaside, and you just float, and it's crazy. I'm so happy I did it, because it was definitely something that's going to stick with me forever.
I was with my two best friends in the company in Israel, and we said, "We want to go to the Dead Sea." None of us spoke Hebrew. A lot of people spoke English there, but we had no idea where we were going. We just got in one of the public buses and started asking people how to get there and we ended up like in the middle of nowhere, like a very secluded part of the Dead Sea. No tourists, it was way off the beaten path. We met this young Israeli couple and they showed us how to dig through the mud and we covered ourselves in this really black Dead Sea mud and then just floated for four hours. It was amazing. But five years ago I would have never just left somewhere with no idea where I'm going, and just tried to find the Dead Sea, which seems so crazy now that I look back on it.
MW: Would you call yourself an adventure-seeker?
PRIORE: I'm a very anxious person. Being a choreographer, you are often in control of the situation. It's your job to take control. So I feel like I'm a control freak. When things are out of my hands, I start to freak out.
Honestly, if I wasn't working with the people I was working with, who basically forced me to [paraglide], I probably would have never done it, because it's just not my personality. I'm way too stressed out for that. Finally, they said, "No, do it, do it!" And I went for it. That broke a couple walls for me, really pushed me to try new things and let go a little bit.
MW: Has that informed your choreography?
PRIORE: Yeah. As a choreographer, it's about trust. So the hardest part of the work is with a group of people you don't know or you don't trust. That's why I'm lucky because everyone I'm working with I can really trust. I think that putting myself in a situation like skydiving has really helped me kind of let go a little bit and learn that I don't have to be so demanding and can be a little bit more collaborative. Because, really, as a choreographer you feed off your dancers, and they should feed off of you.
But that whole diving off a cliff, it's really opened me up to not being so anxious about things and really trying new things. And it's definitely helped my choreography, because you get set in ways. You get really set in the things you like. And even in dance, there are so many different genres. Two years ago we were working with the Israeli Embassy, and all these Israeli choreographers, and there's this Israeli form of dance called Gaga, which is not Lady Gaga. [Laughs.] It was created by this man, Ohad Naharin, and it was so foreign to me. I hated it. I didn't want to do it. And now a year later, when I'm not really practicing it as much, I'm saying to myself, "Wow, that changed my life." And I didn't even know it while I was doing it. I think because it was being forced down my throat. And now that it's had some time to resonate, it's really changed me. Of course I was resistant, didn't want to try it, didn't want to do it. But I wouldn't be the dancer or the choreographer I am today if I didn't have the cerebral experience with Gaga.
MW: So it sounds like it takes some sort of push to get you to do new things or see new ways of doing things.
PRIORE: Definitely. I rely heavily on my peers and my family and my loved ones. I think it's just realistic to say that, sometimes it takes someone else, putting a mirror up or shining a light back at you to make you see, "Okay, I need to do this, I need to try this."
I was really pushed into this show. It really took both of my bosses here at CityDance to say, "We want to give you this opportunity. We know that you know you're ready, but you're scared. We're just going to push you off the ledge." So that's kind of what happened. I'm so nervous, but exponentially excited. It's going to be, hopefully, everything that I wished and dreamed it would be. But, again, it wouldn't have happened without this push from both of my bosses and mentors here at CityDance. They really just said, "This is your year, this is your shot." And they pushed me to do it.
MW: How do you find the dance scene in D.C.?
PRIORE: I think there's a huge lack of support in the dance community here. We have the Washington Ballet, which is thriving. But there are quite a few really great dancers and dance companies that are here in D.C. and it's really difficult to get an audience that's going to continue to support and watch art. It's not as accessible here.
I guess what I'd like to see happen is someone really succeed in contemporary dance in the D.C. area -- really push the envelope. I mean that's what it all comes down to for me. Because D.C. could become a really huge dance city. There are a lot of artists here who do amazing things, and I don't feel like they're getting the amount of exposure they should. '
Robert Priore
(Photo by Julian Vankim)
The hard part is sustaining a career based solely in the arts. I work three jobs. I am a choreographer in residence and an artist in residence at City Dance, I dance with Company E and I work at a restaurant, because I want to be able to live. [Laughs.] And it's really difficult to do that here, honestly it is. There are very few companies that allow you to do that. There are a handful. But wouldn't it be amazing to have more than a handful? To have 10? To have 12? To have a city full of thriving art as well as politics? I just really want to help push us to become an arts capital, because I think D.C. has all the potential. There are so many beautiful theaters. There are so many people here that are just willing to get started and work and make this their home in dance. It's just really difficult right now because I don't think we get the right amount of support -- especially financially, but just in general -- to thrive. We're not getting enough young people into the audiences, people my age, people early 30s, people late 30s, enjoying dance as a night out just as they enjoy going to a movie or going to see a show at Arena Stage. We don't have enough people wanting to go out just to see a night of dance. I think it's because we haven't found what the niche is that D.C. wants. And I think people are afraid to try because a lot of times people aren't successful.
I can only hope that this show propels me into a place where people are going to say, "Oh, I want to see more of that."
I want to see something presented downtown in D.C. I want to do something in a smaller venue. I want to do something that is maybe a show that talks about LGBT-community issues. There are endless possibilities, but what it all comes back to is that the arts community really needs to come together and help each other out to put D.C. on the map as a dance headquarters. We definitely have the talent and we have the drive and the desire, it's just a whole bunch of other things that are not really allowing that to happen.
MW: The theater scene in D.C. has certainly come into its own. Do you ever work in theater, choreographing shows and such?
PRIORE: Yeah, when I was in college, I got my Equity Card. I did an [Actors'] Equity [Association] show. I did West Side Story at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. But I haven't gone back to that. I think it's amazing, I love going to the theater, but it's not really what I want to do. I'm really into contemporary dance, and more that side of dance as opposed to musical theater and theater. I'm not saying I would never go back to it, but right now I'm not driven to make that happen.
MW: Do you think TV talent shows, such as So You Think You Can Dance, are stirring up more general interest in dance?
PRIORE: Yeah. Shows like So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars -- they're not quite what I do, nor do I really like either show. But it's at least making dance more accessible to the average American. I feel like before it was so inaccessible, but now at least some people have some interest. So maybe if they like So You Think You Can Dance, they go see a contemporary show. They may not love it, but they go, "It's kind of interesting," and they want to see more. And it sparks more and more and more.
Last year, Kennedy Center did this Nordic Cool festival. They brought in six companies from the Nordic region and every show was sold out. I went to every show. It's like, why can't we get people that excited about people who are living and breathing in D.C.? Why can't we get them that excited to see people who are doing the same kind of work here? That's where I'm at right now.
MW: There's also the annual VelocityDC Dance Festival, which seems like another great step in helping build exposure, particularly locally.
PRIORE: The Velocity dance festival is great because it gives audiences, who maybe aren't familiar with dance, a chance to see a lot of different dance that's happening here. A cool thing about D.C. is how much cultural dance we have here. That's not very common. I work with a woman [Asanga Domask] who is one of the only people left who is still recreating and working with Sri Lankan traditional dance. And it's beautiful. And she's one of the only people in the world, not just in D.C., doing that. What other city can say they have one of the only interpreters of traditional Sri Lankan dance?
On top of that, at Velocity you'll have a showing from the Washington Ballet, which is always great. And other bigger companies here, and then Step Afrika and some of the hip-hop teams. There's a tap company that does it almost every year, and flamenco. So we're really rich with talent here. I just would love to see a stronger community. Maybe it's up to the community of dance to combine more. Maybe part of it is that everyone's afraid to support each other because they don't want to lose the support that they're getting. But a lot of times when you make a collective, when you unite together, you become stronger as a community.
MW: You mentioned your sister was also a dancer. Did you pick that up from her?
PRIORE: Yeah, she's four years older than me. She's a nurse. Once I started dancing, I kind of fizzled her flame, so to speak. [Laughs.] I really went right into the spotlight, because it's always easier for boys, because there are not as many of us. I was good, so I think it kind of discouraged her from continuing on.
I think my parents in the past nine years -- since I went to college at 18 -- my parents have maybe missed two shows out of the hundreds I've had. With the exception of ones out of the country, they've been to almost everything. My sister's probably been to 75 percent of them.
MW: You talked about trying other sports and activities as a kid. But still, it sounds like you knew dance was to be your lifelong pursuit.
PRIORE: I think when I was a little, little kid, I probably dreamed of being a doctor, then a hairdresser -- I changed my mind all the time. But my mom always tells me, when I was like 5 I would force my sister to learn dance and wear makeup. I remember it was "Macho Man." I had the record of "Macho Man" by the Village People. My mom and dad had all these old records and a record player, and I remember jamming out to the weirdest songs. Michael Jackson.... My mom had a ton of Etta James. And I didn't even dance then. I started dancing when I was 13 -- I did gymnastics a year before that. And I started to really train correctly when I was 18 and in college. I went to an all-boys high school that surprisingly had a really, really strong theater program. So I was the featured dancer in every musical, and I always had the star dance parts in show choir.
I probably could have done a lot of other jobs. I loved math, I was always good in math. I could have gone and probably done the same thing my dad did (accounting). But I knew, pretty much the first year in high school, I was like, I want to be a dancer. And I've never really looked back since then.
MW: Was coming out as easy as that? Or was that a struggle?
PRIORE: I mean it's not one of those things where I've ever really had to have that conversation with my parents. They've always just been very supportive. I remember in high school, my mom was like, "If you ever want to talk...." I was like, "Mom, stop." It just kind of goes unspoken. My grandparents, we probably kind of sugarcoat it for them because I only have two left. I've never really had to feel like I couldn't be myself. I've been very fortunate. So for me that was easy.
I never had to have that "I'm gay" conversation, because I feel like it was just always assumed. I don't know how to say this without sounding conceited, but I've always just been like the little star of the family. Everyone just kind of loved me because I was fun and crazy and they didn't really care what was going on with me. They just loved me. You know, I don't keep my personal love life from my family, in the sense that they've all met my boyfriend, they all love him. But it's not something that -- whether it's my parents or my friends -- I do try to keep that really to myself.
MW: How long have you been with your boyfriend?
PRIORE: I've been with Vinh a year and a half.
MW: Do you want to have kids?
PRIORE: Eventually. [Laughs.] But they're expensive. And at this point in my life I can't even afford my own life, let alone a child. But, yeah, I've always had the paternal gene. But I don't know when. Probably not for a while. If this is my career just starting at 27, really taking off the ground, I need at least a solid five or six years to really make it work before I can concentrate on anything other than myself and my work.
MW: Living in D.C. has certainly gotten more expensive in recent years, for sure.
PRIORE: Well, luckily, I won the housing lottery. I just moved into City Center. I'm of low income, so I live in the building [but] pay much less than the people who live there and pay market rate. I was really fortunate to have won that lottery.
MW: Is there an LGBT angle to the show coming up?
PRIORE: Not this show in particular. Some people might look at the show and say, "Oh, well, there are LGBT topics touched on." The whole mission statement to my work is played off of human touch, and I love to create partnering. A lot of my work isn't just one person dancing. I'll have one or two solos in a show. But a lot of times it's two females partnering or two men partnering, and it gets very intimate. Dance is one of those things that is what you make of it.
MW: When did you realize that was your mission, human touch?
PRIORE: It goes back to my control issue. [Laughs.] I'm kind of a stocky guy. I'm not very tall. I'm 5'7. I'm not the skinniest person. My friends all say I have body dysmorphia. As a dancer, I was relied on more as the go-to guy to partner. Especially in Company E, I'm always, to put it lightly, throwing bitches. [Laughs.] Picking up and throwing them around. I really love it. I love to know that I'm making someone else do something because of my strength and my body.
When I started to really get in touch with my choreographer side in college -- my first piece I ever did in college was called Positive, and it was about HIV/AIDS awareness -- It was all partnering based on some vague innuendos. Oh, the touch could be the transmission. When the show happened, people were crying, the audience was on their feet. My mom lost her shit because she was like, "I've never seen a crowd react that way, and I can't believe that my son created this." So that right there, I said, "Okay, I got to keep going with this." Because the piece was almost all partnering. There was a lot of human touch involved because, again, there were some underlying messages there, but nothing too literal. And then from that point forward I'm like, well, this is something I'm clearly good at.
I also think it's because I'm a big cuddler. I'm just kidding. [Laughs.] But, no, I'm a person who needs affection. I think that is another big reason as to why I go with so much contact in my work. I mean there's a whole bunch of subliminal things that come through in your choreography that a lot of choreographers don't ever care to admit or explain or wonder why, but I've had a lot of time to reflect on why I like partnering. I think a lot of it just comes down to the type of person that I am.
MW: So you're a social person. Do you consider yourself an extrovert?
PRIORE: I actually think I'm an introverted extrovert. It depends. If there's a situation where I feel really comfortable, I probably will be the most annoying, talkative person you could meet. But a lot of times, especially if I'm in a surrounding with people I don't know -- or if I'm feeling self-conscious about what I look like -- I can be very, very shy. Especially when I'm first meeting people. But I definitely like to go out. I love to be merry. I like to be with friends. I like to be surrounded by people. I'm very social.
MW: Early on in the conversation you mentioned that you don't eat seafood. Is that because you just don't like it, or is there more to it?
PRIORE: I think I was scarred as a child. My family is all Italian, so we just do this thing on Christmas Eve where they would make like 12 different kinds of fish. And I just hate fish. So they wouldn't make extra soup for me. I would just have plain noodles and bread. I was also a really picky eater as a child. Now, I'll have shrimp every once in a while. B Too is a Belgian restaurant so we have mussels. I don't like them -- they taste good, but that's not my cup of tea. I'd just rather eat a piece of chicken. It's not a dietary thing. I just can't do it.
Robert J. Priore's Emergence is Saturday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 19, at 4 p.m., at CityDance Studio Theater at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $25. Call 301-581-5100 or visit citydance.net.
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