A one-act ballet Presentiment of Spring was created by Yury Smekalov on demand of the Mariinsky Theatre in 2010 and since then is constantly on stage. For this ballet Smekalov created not only the choreography, but also the libretto and the musical score. The original story is based on the traditional and pagan beliefs of the Russian people of the powerful gods and natural forces that rule people's lives. Among the heroes of the ballet are Winter and Death, Jarilo and Fertility, whose fight determines the transition from winter to spring. Smekalov chose musical composition by Anatoly Liadov that was close by their subject: "Enchanted Lake", "Baba Yaga", "Kikimora" and the cycle "Eight Russian Folk Songs". 

A choreographer tried to present the Presentiment of Spring as a detailed dance picture, the legend that existed regardless time and space and was devoid of the author's attitude. He chose a new dance style, an emotionless dance. Smekalov provided each character with it’s own dance vocabulary: Winter with the broken body line bites and burns, Fertility seduced with the purity of her dance lines; the dance of Death was cold and sharf, that of Jarilo was soft and courageous. All the staging of the play consists of a huge screen with abstract images on it, there are gusts of smoke, frostworks, the spinning globe. In the Presentiment of Spring Smekalov reveals his love to beautiful posing and inventive supports, and formulate the requirements for the dancers. Smekalov’s choreography is impatient to the subdued performance, the artist has to dance confidently, to be emotionally restrained concentrated.