At the end of 2019 in Maribor (Slovenia) in the frames of international festival Dance Open Yury Smekalov performed his short ballet The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. The piece was created for the Japanese dancer May Nagahisa. That is why a traditional Japanese theme of the Kabuki Theater was chosen that impressed the choreographer during his trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.

This short ballet is based on one historical fact that the Kabuki Theater where only women performed was founded by the temple dancer Izumo no Okuni. Later it was forbidden for women to perform, so they could pay more attention to their families, and young men took their places instead. The story line is also based on one of the most extraordinary novels written by famous Japanese author Haruki Murakami The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. In this novel there is the wisdom of the Japanese philosophy that is combined with the complexity of the narration where the bird represents the power of the destiny that rules people’s lives.

A young and talented musician Bhima Yunusov composed the music for this performance. Andrey Sevbo created the computer graphics and costumes based on the ideas of the choreographer. Nina Sternberg was responsible for the creation of the shadow image.