“I appreciate all the art put into it and how they give from their heart. It’s something everybody needs to experience once in their life at least—the pageantry, the color. We are all so lucky that we can see that.”
As an expert in the use of color, Mr. Menger said, “I think it stirs the soul. It makes you feel alive. It’s wonderful, and there’s a warmth because of what’s coming off the stage. It’s not harsh even though they’re bright colors. It’s almost like colors you would expect journeying into heaven.”
Mr. Menger noted how the colors enhanced the stories dramatized in dance. “It’s a tremendous help because it holds your attention. You’re so focused on it. The message would not come across the same without the bright colors like that. I think it just triggers your mind and touches your soul,” he said.
Mr. Menger said, “The spirituality was tasteful, not overdone, not pushy. It was just a beautiful message sent in a way that anybody of any faith or religion could certainly enjoy without feeling that it was pressed upon them. Maybe it makes us all just stop and think what’s important in life, and how we need to treat each other.”
He said Shen Yun’s message was: “You don’t have to spend a lot to enjoy life, or to realize what’s important. It’s not a bigger house or a bigger car. Once you’re old, you'll realize those mistakes, and you can’t go back.”
Shen Yun shares the importance of preserving traditional values as it tours the world, which Mr. Menter said he appreciates.
“I think we all want to have a past. It’s important to know where we’ve come from. It’s important for all of us to grow our whole life. There’s no such thing as ‘I’m too old to change or too old to learn.’ A little bit of compassion like [the dance pieces] show—that’s what it’s all about, what we need to do for people.
“I thought it was spot on.”
Mr. Menger said there was much to take away with him after the performance. “I think it makes me think about how we can all be nicer, kinder, fairer, and enjoy one another for who they are and what they are,” he said.
He said how important it was to have people awaken, “but not in a pushy offensive way,” to the universal values coming from ancient Chinese culture. “Let’s call it a nudge, something to think about.”
Mr. Menger described how spiritual values could benefit modern society. “Hopefully, it makes people slow down, love their family more, take time for one another. Everything about it is a kind of reset [to remember] how important those little things are that we do for people—for the young, for the elderly, for people in need, and the pleasure you get from doing that,” he said.
“I think until we slow down and take a moment to realize how important it is to reach out to one another with care and kindness. If not, you’re going to keep being empty inside. Shen Yun is a very subtle way of giving people an option to stop and ask, ‘Think about this. Where is your happiness coming from?’
“I do believe [doing for others] is the secret to happiness in life. Nothing can give you better happiness than when you do something for someone else.”
Mr. Menger said the performance brings a peaceful atmosphere to the audience, to put away their phones and slow their minds.
He said the energy is “like being home in your mother’s arms. Just a warmth, a protectiveness, a relaxation. You see their minds thinking, but in a good way, of accepting what the little stories tell. It’s something that is so missing in this electronic world now. People keep clicking on more videos, trying to find what’s right there. It is simple, beautiful dance ... warmth.”
He said Shen Yun is “giving a whole other path for people to enjoy life every day with simple things. It’s a very simple message. You just have to decide to try it.”
Mr. Menger praised the work of Shen Yun’s artistic director. “I would say to him that the show does not show any ego. It shows an interest in creating and giving people an alternative in this horrid, self-centered world that we’re living in today. As long as he keeps doing what he does, the message will come across loud and clear,” Mr. Menger said.
