Vernard Gilmore remembers the moment he realized he wanted to be a professional dancer. While attending Curie High School in Chicago’s Archer Heights neighborhood, a friend showed him a video of a ballet called “Revelations,” the signature work of visionary dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey.

“And from that moment I was like: They understand me. That’s where I want to be. That’s where I need to be,” Gilmore said. “So for me, once I saw that I was like, ‘I gotta go to Ailey.’”

Gilmore said he has been with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for nearly 30 years, and is the company’s most senior member. Ahead of the company’s return to Chicago on April 17, Gilmore talked with Rundown podcast host Erin Allen about dancing on the South Side throughout his childhood, about Alvin Ailey the man, and about returning to his hometown.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has six shows at the Auditorium Theater.