Foreign newspapers have described his career as "fast-moving" and his success "meteoric". But, according to the man himself, the secret lies nowhere but in the Law of the Nature.
"You must adapt," he says, speaking of his recent experience on the Olympic creative team. "My career is built outside of the country, where there is a different way to mount a production. It took me a little while to recognize the difference in getting things done in China and America. Now, I very much understand."
Shen's reputation as a master of modern dance choreography is largely based on his ability to create interesting and abstract forms of movement involving raw and pure motions. His signature piece Map, which premiered at the Lincoln Center Festival in 2005, amounts to a "moving dictionary" of his complete dance vocabulary.
"It's in the blood - everything you do has to do with who you are," he says, referring to the fact his dance technique, dubbed by some critics as the "Natural Body Development Technique", has its origin in both Eastern and Western philosophy.
"It concerns the different ways bodies are moved," he explains. "The internal energy, energy that travels circularly inside the body and is used by dancers to motivate various body parts, is an ancient tai chi idea."
The movement, Shen explains, was combined with Western body movements, including the use of momentum.
Since his official appointment last April, there has been speculation that Shen's recipe for the Opening Ceremony will be "fusion" - that is, if he's eaten at enough Manhattan restaurants.
A look into the man's past offers some more concrete clues.
Born in Hunan in 1968, the year of the monkey, Shen describes himself as "always being a mover".
Following in the footsteps of his parents, Shen began training as a local opera performer at the age of 9. The role assigned to him, quite fittingly, was that of a wusheng, or fighting man, which calls for several somersaults.
"That experience really helped me understand the Chinese tradition. Opera is for me the best form of performance art ever born in China - combining music, vocals, acting and acrobatics all in one and evolving for hundreds of years," he says.
Shen's foray into modern dance was the result of an unexpected turn. In 1988, after studying opera for a decade, Shen entered a dance competition in Hunan.
"I was in it for the money. But since I had no formal training, classical or otherwise, I had no choice but to dance my own dance. And, they gave me the first prize," he recalls.
He pauses for a brief moment, "There are certain things you are meant to do with your life."
A misstep turned out to be a major step and Shen has never looked back since.
