Latest news with #Albrecht
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
15 Facts About Aldi You Should Know As A Frequent Shopper
As food prices soar and folks look to save as much as possible while grocery shopping, Aldi is quickly landing on everyone's radar as the go-to spot for serious savings. It boasts nearly 2,500 locations in the U.S. alone with 12,000 stores worldwide as of 2024, and was the fastest-growing supermarket chain in the U.S. that year. Aldi has gained international recognition with unbelievably low prices thanks to its minimalist philosophy, eliminating costly, wasteful frills in favor of a simplified shopping experience. This no-frills ethos means huge savings for customers. We guarantee that you won't miss the glitz and glam that regular grocery stores shell out big bucks for — in fact, you'll start to find those huge stores with loud advertising and kitschy packaging annoying after a few trips to Aldi. There's a lot more to learn about the grocery giant beyond its low prices, private label products, and lightning-fast speed of its cashiers (seriously — how do they do it?) In this list, we'll take a look at a few lesser-known facts about the grocery chain. These tidbits pull back the curtain on Aldi's past and present, giving you an edge the next time you roll up with cart-quarter in hand and savings on the brain. So, let's dive into the weird, wonderful world of Aldi — where the prices are low, the cashiers move at warp speed, and the cult following just keeps growing. Read more: 12 Aldi Chocolate Candies, Ranked Worst To Best Based on its ubiquitous presence in the U.S., you might jump to the conclusion that Aldi was founded in America. But the chain's story actually begins over 100 years ago in Germany, when a tiny grocery store was opened in Essen by Anna Albrecht. The small store was a pillar of the local community, and Albrecht's sons — Karl and Theo — took over to continue its legacy in 1948. But the store didn't get its modern name until the early '60s, when the brothers combined their surname and "discount" — thus, a grocery icon was born. Ever since the Albrecht brothers took over their mother's store, the business model that put Aldi on the map has stayed largely the same. The brothers were known to shy away from wasting resources on ads and decor, passing the savings down to their war-ravaged customers, who were desperate for low-cost staple goods. By 1968, there were over 200 Aldi locations. That number expanded rapidly, and in 1976, Aldi's first U.S. location opened in Iowa, bringing top-tier German ingenuity stateside. It wasn't all sunshine and savings for the two Albrecht brothers. When Theo and Karl changed the store's name from Albrecht Discount to Aldi, they also divided the store, Cold War-style. Theo wanted Aldi stores to carry cigarettes, but Karl thought that opening the store up to tobacco sales would entice thieves and ne'er-do-wells. The brothers couldn't compromise and so, naturally, they parted ways. But don't worry — this story has a happy, wholesome ending. Instead of creating two distinct, competing stores, Karl and Theo separated Aldi by region into two chains under one name. Theo took control of cigarette-slinging Aldi Nord — all of Northern Germany's Aldis — and Karl spearheaded tobacco-free Aldi Süd in the country's Southern region. Now, the brothers could exist harmoniously without stepping on one another's toes, and Aldi could continue to provide low-cost goods to the people of Germany without a sibling rivalry yucking everyone's yum. Today, Aldi locations in Belgium, France, and Spain are operated by Aldi Nord, while those in the United States, the U.K., and Australia are owned by Aldi Süd. It's probably obvious that Aldi is incredibly popular in its home country of Germany, but there's something to be said about Aldi in the U.K. A 2023 poll by Aldi found that it was Britain's most popular supermarket, surpassing competing discount retailers. It was also named Britain's most inexpensive grocery chain — we guess there's a connection there. In 2022, Aldi earned a whopping €17.8 billion in revenue in the U.K., which translates to about $19.5 billion. For comparison, Aldi's 2022 U.S. revenue came to $40.2 billion, meanwhile, the population of the U.S. hovers around 340 million people while the U.K.'s total population is about 70 million. Don't worry, we'll do the math for you. Based on these numbers, about $120 per American citizen is spent annually at Aldi, while every U.K. citizen spends an average of $280 at Aldi every year. In other words, in the U.S., Aldi is a store; in the U.K., it's a lifestyle. We all know that Aldi's prices are low, but those who have never visited the chain might suspect that these low prices are indicative of poor quality. Au contraire. Aldi shines in the price-to-quality ratio, so much so that it has earned over 2,000 awards in varying categories since 2017. Aldi wines won Best Buy by Wine Enthusiast and some of its products received the Good Housekeeping Nutritionist Approved seal as well as the ChefsBest Award, just to name a few. Some of Aldi's store-brand foods were bestowed with Product of the Year and Best New Product awards for 2025. A few of the Best New Products from Aldi include Mama Cozzi's pizza cookie (don't worry — it's a pizza-sized cookie, not a pizza-flavored cookie), Priano's mini Italian meat and cheese tray, and Friendly Farms Greek yogurt. Eight Aldi items also earned the coveted Product of the Year award among a total 42 winning products in the U.S. They include Simply Nature chocolate covered frozen dried fruit from Aldi's private label organic line, Summit Popz prebiotic sodas (a Poppi knock-off), Park Street deli pickle chips, and Specially Selected snow crab legs. Although Aldi is a leader in discount groceries, it's certainly not the only player in the savings game. Lidl is a popular value-based supermarket, although it's home to far fewer U.S. locations than Aldi, and these locations are limited to just the East Coast. There are a ton of similarities between the companies, so it's no wonder there's a rumor that Aldi and Lidl are owned by the same family. However, Aldi and Lidl are completely separate entities, and always have been. Like Aldi, Lidl was also born in Germany, and it clearly borrowed a lot from the Albrecht brothers' store and other discount supermarkets that were popular in the country at the time. Even Lidl's branding looks suspiciously similar to Aldi's. Both brands offer low-cost, private-label items, a refund-and-replace guarantee, and a limited offering that focuses primarily on staple goods. However, Lidl tends to lean more towards a traditional grocery store than Aldi, with a bakery section, fresh flowers, and a larger selection of brand name products. These bougie upgrades mean that Lidl's prices aren't as appealing as Aldi's, but they're still low enough to compete with the OG German discount store. The main culprit behind Aldi's modest price tags is lack of a middleman. Unlike a garden-variety grocer, you won't find shelves stocked with big name brands at Aldi. Instead, its catalog is made up of 90% private-label goods, leaving room for just a few must-have brand name items. These items account for over ¾ of all of its sales. Trust us when we say that, after taking a glimpse at your receipt, you won't miss the household names and will welcome your Baker's Corner cookies and Millville cereal with open arms. Even though you may not find your favorite brands at Aldi, the good news is that you don't need to sacrifice the foods you love to save a pretty penny. The chain is home to plenty of store-brand products designed to mimic the brand names that we all recognize and adore. From a Frank's Red Hot copycat to a classic Smartfood white cheddar popcorn dupe and Kerrygold cheese and butter replicas, we promise that you won't be able to tell the difference (but your wallet will). It comes down to more than just low prices and resemblance to the real deal that make Aldi's house-brand products appealing. As we continue to become more health conscious as a nation, Aldi has heeded the nutrition-focused call and made some serious changes to its private label products in recent years. Today, these foods contain no synthetic colors, MSG, or partially-hydrogenated oils, making cheap, healthy snacks without questionable ingredients easy to track down at Aldi. Although there's minimal research or hard evidence to back up the claims that certified synthetic colors and MSG are harmful to consume, the lack thereof makes for a more appealing product that's seemingly closer to nature. As for PHOs — which are the primary source of trans fats and known to cause harm in excess --0 the FDA deemed them not generally safe to consume in 2015, with a ban set to take effect in 2018. But Aldi went ahead and eliminated them from its products in 2016, giving it a leg up against competitors. Whether you have an allergy or diet goals, eating gluten-free can be a challenge, especially when you're just looking for a quick snack on the go or a meal that doesn't require hours in the kitchen. Aldi understands the gluten-free struggle, so in 2014 it launched its liveGfree brand. Aldi was the first chain grocer to offer a private label line that's exclusively gluten-free, with all liveGfree items 100% devoid of wheat, barley, rye, and other glutenous ingredients. Although quite a few liveGfree items have been discontinued (we miss you, GF cheesecake), you can still find plenty of staples from this Aldi brand. Aldi's liveGfree product line includes bagels and sandwich bread that toasts surprisingly well (a rarity in the world of wheat-free bread). The brand also includes pantry staples, like pancake and brownie mix and protein-packed pasta made from rice flour and quinoa. Brown rice crisps, in sesame or sweet chili flavor, are a fan favorite for snacking, and boxed macaroni and cheese is a top choice for a no-stress, GF dinner. Let's be real — we can't all be drinking the top shelf stuff for wine night. Luckily for those fiscally-minded drinkers among us, Aldi hits all the right notes with its value private label wines. It has a vast selection of wines — from red, white, sparkling, and rosé in both bottles and boxes — to appeal to any taste on any budget. Aldi's private label wines have won a plethora of awards. The Broken Clouds pinot noir was granted the 2017 Product of the Year award and 91 points by Wine Enthusiast. William Wright Vintner's Reserve pinot noir was awarded 90 points and a gold medal from the Beverage Testing Institute. The list goes on, with over 20 Aldi wines winning various prestigious awards. One of the biggest winners came in 2022, when a $5 bottle of sparkling wine from Aldi's South Point Estate brand was awarded a Double Gold Medal from the Melbourne International Wine Competition. Aldi cashiers are fast, so fast that if you didn't know what you were getting into before you got in the checkout line, you probably left Aldi both impressed and a little shaken up. No, Aldi doesn't specifically seek out checkers with the fastest scanning hands. Unbeknownst to most shoppers, Aldi employees are actually timed and scored during each customer interaction. Aldi's cashiers are incentivized to check out customers as fast as possible — a controversial practice that's earned the company some scrutiny. Normally, it's easy enough for Aldi cashiers to scan items quickly and toss everything loose into the cart to get their numbers up. But according to Aldi's rules for employees, they're required to slow things down if customers complain about their speed. However, this negatively impacts their score. So, on your next trip to Aldi, be sure to show these employees kindness. Being timed and scored on matters largely outside of your control has to be incredibly stressful. We've already learned that the main reason Aldi's goods are so cheap is thanks to its private label products, but the company also employs less obvious methods to keep overhead low and customer satisfaction high. You may have noticed that there aren't any flamboyant displays at Aldi. Instead, nearly everything is stacked in shipping boxes on shelves devoid of any ornate signage or eye-catching displays. This cuts down on time spent stocking and organizing products, thus saving Aldi in labor costs, and leading to cheaper prices for customers. Aldi cuts costs in other unlikely ways, too. Unlike regular grocery stores, Aldi takes more extreme measures to make sure no one leaves their shopping carts in the middle of the parking lot. A quarter is required to unlock a cart, and then it's returned when the cart is brought back, eliminating the need for employees to collect the carts. And forget choosing between paper or plastic at Aldi; the company doesn't keep any single-use bags in its stores. Instead, shoppers are expected to bring their own or purchase reusable bags before checking out (or forget your bags and fill your trunk with loose groceries — we've all been there). The company also eschews music in its stores to avoid paying costly licensing fees. Choosing local ingredients is a great way to keep your diet healthy and your food budget low. Aldi hops aboard the farm-to-table train at some of its locations, where it stocks a variety of produce — and sometimes snacks and drinks — from nearby farms and food producers. Stocking local foods when possible fits right into Aldi's minimalist, cost-cutting ethos by eliminating the price of transporting food long distances, passing savings down to its customers. Most local finds are in the produce aisles, where Aldi stocks foods from nearby farms, like apples in upstate New York or fresh corn in Iowa locations. Some stores carry iconic commercial products, including Skyline chili in Ohio, Vienna Beef hot dogs in the Chicago area, and Duke's mayonnaise at Aldis in the Southeast. If you're lucky, and if you live in an area rife with farmland and food production, you may even find some hyper-regional items at your local Aldi, like sauces, dairy, and even beer. Have you ever impulsively purchased a chainsaw while grocery shopping? If you have, you're probably an Aldi shopper. Other grocery stores have a seasonal aisle, but Aldi has the Aisle of Shame, where items like the Ferrex electric chainsaw are found. This area of Aldi, with the playfully derisive name coined by Aldi fans, is where you'll find the non-food items that you didn't know you needed. The unofficial name of the aisle comes from the staggeringly low prices on quirky items that have "impulse buy" written all over them. The Aisle of Shame products — which are technically dubbed Aldi Finds — rotate seasonally and range from functional to frivolous. Here, you'll find run-of-the-mill, holiday-themed decorations, toys and games, and clothing at unbeatable prices. But if you keep an eye out, you'll find cheap items in the infamous aisle that you would never expect. A twin mattress, golf club set, and stand-up paddleboard are just a few examples of brag-worthy Aisle of Shame finds. Whether you're shopping for food, electronics, clothes, or any goods that tend to fly off shelves at the speed of light, it's obvious that the best time to hit the store is right after it's been stocked. Most grocery chains and big box stores restock frequently, sometimes even nightly. But, as we've come to learn, Aldi does everything a little differently. Aldi restocks some items only once a week in order to cut down on labor costs. While we appreciate that this keeps prices down for customers, it can be annoying to show up the day before stocking day to find everything you were hoping to scoop up is long gone. Thankfully, we have the intel so you can always show up to a freshly-replenished store. Schedule your Aldi shopping day for Wednesday morning, the day that the store is stocked, to guarantee that you'll find everything on your list. Some food items are restocked on Wednesdays as well as all the Aldi Finds; the ephemeral seasonal and miscellaneous items with the low price tags that tend to sell out fast. Although it doesn't offer its customers a rewards program or coupon book, there are still ways to save more money and snag some fleeting items at Aldi. It all comes down to price tag color. To the untrained eye, the colors of the tags seem arbitrary, but they actually indicate specific specials and deals, so all you need is a little intel and a sharp eye to make the most of your Aldi run. Red text on a yellow tag indicates a clearance item. These are the foods that are selling for less than their full (already low) price, so products with these tags are must-haves, especially if they're already on your list. Yellow tags with black text are the standard tag, but if this tag has a blue flag on it, it means the item is new to Aldi. Search for these tags to find cheap foods to try out and potentially add to your future shopping trips. White signs with red text indicate Aldi Finds. These are the tags to look out for if you're on the hunt for a true Aldi unicorn — that electric chainsaw isn't sticking around forever. Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Time Out
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The beautiful ‘Giselle' ballet will be in Hong Kong for just nine performances
The Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) presents a new production of Giselle, starring a lineup of world-renowned guest dancers and accompanied by the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong under the baton of Fayçal Karoui. HKB's artistic director Septime Webre and South African ballet artist Charla Glenn team up to breathe new life into this story of love, betrayal, and redemption, for nine performances only at the end of this month. Some of the famous guest artists for this production include the étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet Hugo Marchand – who was a torch bearer at last year's Paris Olympic Games – in his Hong Kong debut, while The Royal Ballet's principal dancer Marianela Nuñez returns to dance with HKB for her third consecutive year. Giselle also marks the return of another principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball, whom we last saw as Prince Siegfried in last year's production of Swan Lake. Ball had great chemistry with HKB's principal dancer Ye Feifei, and we're excited to see them reunite on stage. Lastly, the international star Victor Caixeta, who was formerly the principal dancer of the Dutch National Ballet will also be returning to collaborate with HKB. For the uninitiated, this ballet follows the kind-hearted peasant girl Giselle who meets and falls in love with the handsome Albrecht, only to discover later that the flirtatious man has lied to her about his background and is also engaged to someone else. The deceit and grief drives her mad and the vengeful spirits of women who died before their weddings try to take revenge on Albrecht for Giselle, but her unwavering love protects him from the supernatural forces. The ballet blanc in the second act, when the wilis spirits rise from their graves is definitely one to keep an eye out for. HKB's new Giselle will feature beautiful costumes and sets by the designer Jérôme Kaplan, including a castle inspired by the Château de Pierrefond and cottages modeled after Marie Antoinette's Hameau de la Reine hamlet at Versailles. This tragic, poignant ballet is to be staged on Fridays to Sundays from May 30 to June 8 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Yahoo
Fox Cities community, officials reflect on 10 years since Trestle Trail shooting
MENASHA, Wis. (WFRV) – 10 years later, the Fox Cities community continues to reflect on the May 2015 shooting on the Trestle Trail. Menasha Police Lieutenant Matt Albrecht was among the first officers on the scene when the shooting happened. 'We don't want to remember the awfulness, we want to remember the good things that are happening, the support people are giving the families,' Lt. Albrecht said to Local 5. 'The healing that has occurred since then and the healing for some that is still occurring.' In a random act of violence, a gunman on the trail opened fire, killing 31-year-old Adam Bentdahl, 33-year-old Jon Stoffel and 11-year-old Olivia Stoffel. The man also critically injured Erin Stoffel before turning the gun on himself. Wisconsin woman convicted for deer poaching gets 30 days in jail, barred from hunting license for 3 years Despite her gunshot wounds, Erin Stoffel was able to get her other children and herself off the bridge to safety. Her husband Jon and 11-year-old daughter Olivia didn't survive. 'The memory is there, you have the memory of the incident, to help work through that you remember all the good things that were accomplished afterwards,' Lt. Albrecht said. Lt. Albrecht said it was amazing to see the community come together to support the victims' friends and families. 10 years later, mosaic tiles with words like 'courage' and 'faith' sit on the support beams of the Trestle Trail bridge to honor the victims. 'It certainly was tragic, but we've focused on the unity and bonding and building up of Menasha and the Fox Valley and our growth,' Menasha Police Chief Nick Thorn said. Every year since the shooting, community members and law enforcement officers have done random acts of kindness to honor Olivia Stoffel on December 7, her birthday. 'The Fox Valley has embraced Olivia's heart in those random acts of kindness,' Chief Thorn said. Eastern Wisconsin pub wins second-ever Wisconsin's Best Burger Contest 'I think it's important for us to help out with the healing and be part of that,' Lt. Albrecht said. 'That's part of our mission and part of how we want to continue to be part of the community.' The shooting rocked the psyche of many in the Fox Cities community and 10 years later, people continue to need time to heal from the tragic events of that day. 'I think it made people more distrusting of their communities here in the Appleton area, people are more small-town mentality (and this made it feel like our area is) turning into a city,' Trey Cotherman of Menasha said. 'The city element hit them hard.' Saturday marks one decade since the Trestle Trail shooting. A day that many in the Menasha area will never be able to forget. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
17-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
The Dutch Love Their Bicycles. Helmets? Not So Much.
'It's every person for themselves,' Fallon Albrecht said while cycling on Thursday morning through a downtown Amsterdam intersection so chaotically busy that it once had its own livestream. Like the dozens of cyclists around her, Ms. Albrecht, 39, was not wearing a helmet during rush hour, despite the risk and a national campaign in the Netherlands to change attitudes to this piece of personal protection. 'Because of my bun,' she said of why she was not wearing a helmet, referring to the knot of hair neatly scraped high on her head. There are more bicycles than people in the Netherlands, according to government figures. But bicycle helmets are far less common. And they have become part of a debate that pits traffic safety against questions about a deeply ingrained part of Dutch culture: the primacy of cycling. Annual statistics on traffic fatalities published by the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics on Thursday showed that road deaths among cyclists were the highest of any road user: 246 last year, compared with 220 people killed in cars and 59 pedestrians. Since 2000, traffic accidents have claimed the lives of an average of 199 cyclists in the country each year, according to the statistics bureau. In the last five years, nearly two-thirds of cyclist road deaths were attributed to head injuries, the bureau said. In response, the authorities are introducing awareness campaigns to promote helmets, including a daylong national initiative this past Wednesday. The campaign, called 'Put It On,' got the message out through television ads, social media and school activities. It was aimed at reducing fatalities and serious injury, citing research that said helmets reduced fatal cycling injuries by 70 percent. Some in the country say the safety messages should be directed instead at drivers of cars and those in charge of infrastructure and traffic policies. 'Wearing a helmet doesn't prevent having accidents in traffic, so we should work on taking away the cause of the accident,' said Esther van Garderen, the national director of Fietsersbond, a group that has campaigned for safe cycling in the Netherlands for 50 years. Fietsersbond wants automobile speed limits in cities and residential areas reduced to roughly 18 miles per hour. It has also lobbied for limiting the size of cars, arguing that larger cars are harder for cyclists to navigate around and increase the risk of head injuries. Marco te Brömmelstroet, an urban planning professor at the University of Amsterdam who has described the campaign as 'an ideological smoke screen,' said the helmet initiative was 'well-intended but ill-informed and therefore potentially morally problematic.' Mr. te Brömmelstroet, popularly known as the 'Bike Professor' because of his media appearances focused on bike safety, says he has nothing against helmets, but that the campaign paints cycling as a dangerous activity in a country where people of all ages ride bikes daily. 'Why don't we call it 'the day against traffic crashes' or 'the day against road violence'?' he asked. He said the helmet campaign also shifted responsibility from the government, including from the infrastructure minister, Barry Madlener, who increased the speed limit for cars on freeways to about 80 miles per hour just days before promoting the use of helmets at an elementary school. 'Our minister is indeed pro-automobile,' Liz Zoetekouw, an spokeswoman for his office, said on Thursday. 'Cars are getting cleaner and safer each year, and they are very important for the Dutch population.' She said the department had set aside 450 million euros ($568 million) for the development of safe infrastructure from 2020 to 2030, and that getting cyclists to wear helmets was a part of that investment. 'To ensure that cycling remains safe, we need to do both,' Ms. Zoetekouw said. On Amsterdam's streets, reaction to the campaign was mixed. Nelleke Doornbal, 64, said she wore a helmet when riding her electric bicycle to her job in physical rehabilitation in the city center. 'I often see the invisible consequences of brain injury: memory loss, concentration problems, fatigue,' she said. Ms. Doornbal said she would welcome mandatory helmet rules, and not just for older people. (The Dutch government already has a safety campaign aimed at older riders.) 'A young brain is just as vulnerable as an old one,' she said. Berend Ramuz, 26, said he wore a helmet only when racing, and he expressed doubt that the campaign would make a difference. 'Hardly anyone wears a helmet,' he said. 'People are just not used to it at all.' But Jop de Vrieze, 42, said he had learned about bike safety the hard way after what he described as 'a classic Dutch accident' eight years ago. 'I had too many drinks and had driven my front wheel into a tram rail,' he recalled. 'I woke up with two paramedics over my head.' After recovering from a concussion, he started wearing a helmet on nights out, although he said he forgot to more often than not. That changed when his 8-year-old son asked him why he did not wear a helmet. 'That got me thinking,' he said. 'If I fall, it affects him, too.'
Korea Herald
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Interview: Rising ballet stars step into tragedy of 'Giselle'
Riding standout 2024, soloists Lee You-rim, Lim Sun-u soar into 2025 with a story of romance, regret and redemption Few works in the classical ballet canon are as enduring or as emotionally charged as 'Giselle.' A quintessential romantic masterpiece, the ballet tells the story of a beautiful peasant girl named Giselle, who falls in love with a nobleman in disguise, Albrecht, only to die of heartbreak upon discovering he is betrothed to another. While the first act is filled with youthful first love, celebration and a radiant atmosphere, the second act marks a dramatic shift, unfolding at Giselle's grave, steeped in grief, regret and a subdued emotional palette, as if shrouded in mist. Running Friday through April 27 at Seoul Arts Center, Universal Ballet's upcoming production 'Giselle' will mark the debut of two promising soloists -- Lee You-rim as Giselle and Lim Sun-u as Albrecht -- who will perform together on Sunday evening and Wednesday. 'It's a classical ballet, but the acting is just as important as the dancing like a drama ballet. Every step and every glance carries meaning, ' said Lee in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. Lee described Giselle's journey as a stark transformation, from an innocent village girl to a spirit still tethered by love. 'In Act 2, I want it to feel like you're watching a ballet underwater -- subdued, flowing, as if everything is soaked in grief. Even the port de bras feels like it's dripping with water, like tears falling from every gesture.' For Lim, the shift in Albrecht's arc is just as profound. 'At first, he's just flirting, drawn to a beautiful girl,' he said. 'It's only in the second act, when he sees Giselle again as a spirit, that he realizes what real love is. That's when remorse and true love really set in.' While 'Giselle' is often remembered for its lyrical serenity, it is physically intense, Lim explained. 'There are a lot of jumps, and it's easier to jump when you're happy, but more challenging to express that sadness while jumping. I think the audience will find it interesting to see the contrast between Act 1 and Act 2.' Breakthrough year of 2024 Lee and Lim first shared the stage as leads in 'The Nutcracker' last year, and 'Giselle' is their second full-length ballet as a romantic duo. Both had a standout 2024, setting personal and professional milestones that saw them leap farther into the spotlight. Lee, who danced with the Hungarian National Ballet for seven years before joining Universal Ballet in 2023, gained recognition last year for her performances as Juliet in Kenneth MacMillan's 'Romeo and Juliet' and Nikiya in 'La Bayadere.' 'I don't know if I've ever had a year so full of happiness. It was everything I had hoped for as a dancer -- new roles, new challenges and the opportunity to keep learning.' Julia Moon, general director of Universal Ballet, at a press conference for Romeo and Juliet" had highlighted Lee's emotional depth as one of her strengths. Lee secured the role through an audition. 'There are scenes the audience doesn't see on stage -- what happened just before, or what might happen afterward -- and I try to imagine all of that. I think it makes the emotions more real. Even when I step onstage from the wings, I'm not just 'entering' as a character. I try to already be in it.' Lim, too, is savoring an emotional comeback. A former child performer who, at age 11, played Billy in the Korean premiere of the musical 'Billy Elliot,' he made headlines again in 2017 when he placed eighth at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne. But shortly after being promoted to demi-soloist at the Universal Ballet Company in 2020, he suffered a serious shin injury that sidelined him for nearly three years. Last year, he made a dazzling comeback, performing as Bluebird in "Sleeping Beauty" and Golden Idol in "La Bayadere." 'Just being able to dance again made last year incredibly special for me,' Lim said. He was tentative at first, dancing everyday with the constant fear: 'What if it happens again?' Rehearsing as the Bluebird in "Sleeping Beauty" -- he was injured performing that very role back in 2020 -- brought everything back, he recalled. "But by the end of the year, I was finally able to move with more ease," he said. Above all, the two dancers hoped their performance in 'Giselle' resonates with audiences as a source of solace. 'We dance because it makes us feel joy. And I hope the audience can feel that too,' said Lim. 'People make time to come to the theater -- not just to be entertained, but because they're seeking something more. Maybe comfort, or a kind of emotional connection. I hope 'Giselle' can offer that,' added Lee. hwangdh@
