Vernard Gilmore: My Favorite Things

By Keith Boykin, in theater
Monday, February 6 2006, 2:25AM

Last week we profiled Aubrey Lynch in the "My Favorite Things" series, so this week I thought we should continue the trend by recognizing another wonderful dancer. His name is Vernard Gilmore, and he dances for the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Born and raised in the southside of Chicago, Vernard began dancing at Curie Performing and Creative Arts High School and later studied at the Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theater. He attended Barat College as a dance scholarship recipient, received first place in the all-city NAACP ACT-SO Competition in Dance in 1993, and moved to New York City in 1995. Here in the city, he started as a student at the Ailey School and was asked to join the Ailey Repertory Ensemble (also known as Ailey II) in 1995, and after two years he became a member of the first company, where he has been a dancer ever since.

I've known Vernard for a few years now, and the hardest part of knowing him is keeping up with his schedule. I asked him to tell me some of the places he has traveled, and you won't believe the list. He has traveled to South Africa, France, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, the U.K., Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Chile, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Guadalupe, Russia and many more places.

As you might guess from the sexy picture, Vernard is not single. He has what he calls "a great boyfriend" and says he's "very blessed." So what does he do in his spare time? "When I'm not dancing," he says "I'm thinking of what I could do creatively to help me decide on my future. I create music on my Mac and I choreograph. I'm a home body, unless I'm out hanging with my great friends."

Vernard describes himself as "a man of minimum words," so it was a little hard to get him to tell me his five favorite web sites and why he likes them. He says he strives "to be direct and communicate clearly." And that he does. Check out his five sites. He's very direct and clear about why he likes them.

Below are Vernard's favorite sites.

Vernard Gilmore's Five Favorite Web Sites

1. G-Star.com
I love G-Star because the style of all they're clothing is uniquely cut and fits me well.

2. AOL.com
AOL is just great and trendy.

3. Apple.com
Apple.com is fun just because I have a Mac.

4. Marvel.com
Marvel.com is just great and innovative. I'm loving the reel for the next X-Men movie.

5. Hotmail.com
I also love hotmail.com. It's the horoscope section that keeps me coming back. I'm fascinated with that whole thing.

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