“Signs” perhaps also seemed extra youthful this time around because Caili Quan’s “Beneath the Tides,” which followed it, had quite a similar premise. But where “Signs” employed company newbies and a twist on classroom wear (artfully cut powder-periwinkle leotards by Marc Happel), “Tides” showcased two of the troupe’s most commanding ballerinas and the dramatic draping of Gilles Medel of House of Gilles. The women’s gowns were sexy and flattering, though not as sexy and flattering as the men’s toplessness above waist-cinching black corsets. A gray curtain billowed at the back left of the stage, we’d moved from the prom to the ballroom. Philip Glass’s repetitive scales were supplanted by Saint-Saens’s swooning Cello Concerto No. 1. “Tides” and “Signs” shared a lot of gestures, body rolls, contractions, and flat-footed accents, but where “Signs” was PG-13, “Tides” was a bodice-ripper.     

Like Bell in “Signs,” Tiler Peck was the odd woman out in “Tides,” weaving through the party guests with sultry skirt swishes and pirouettes galore. She was attached to a bowing motif: she repeatedly performed a reverence, and the corps bowed to her as she passed through their ranks. She was like a paso doblé incarnation of the Russian Girl in Balanchine’s “Serenade.” Sara Mearns and Gilbert Bolden III were stunning in their moody pas de deux, which featured wraparound legs and rolled port de bras back. Aaron Sanz and Jules Mabie were fantastic as an athletic, tortured duo. I’m not sure what was tormenting them, but their long complementary lines and slashing legs were always a welcome sight. It was a treat to see all these exceptional performers strutting around in style. I did not understand the underlying impetus for their actions and interactions, but Quan moved her cast around seamlessly and surely. It was a solid, if slightly quizzical, premiere.