“Freedom of the human spirit has to be reflected in the freedom that we feel as we live in this world today. And too much of what’s happening in the world is squashing our freedom. Freedom is not giving people things for free. Freedom is giving people a helping hand and helping lift them up. Not giving them money. We need to all feel free in our spirit,” he said.

“The message of being on this earth and having your life be so important and yet feeling that there’s blocks to it. And our job is to move through those blocks. There’s even a philosophical element. That is very important,” Meringoff said.

“It’s spectacular that the amount of training that each person has to go through is unnoticed because their movements are so fluid and they are flying through the air. That’s spectacular. The piece on the spring flowers was absolutely exquisite,” Meringoff said.

“It’s magnificent—the movement, the classical dance, the scenery, the three-dimensionality of it. It’s something unique and I cannot imagine not having seen this, it’s something everyone should see,” Meringoff commented.

“I’m torn because I want to believe that goodwill prevails. And I see what’s happening in China, in Russia, and I worry about that.  I’m worried that the darkness will become stronger than the light but I have to believe in my heart that the light will be stronger,” Meringoff said.