Much better is the second work on the program, “A Child’s Tale,” which, Williams writes in the program, was partly inspired by his Ukrainian grandmother’s bedtime stories about the Slavic ogress Baba Yaga and her hut, an abode that runs around the forest on a pair of chicken legs. The hut, designed by Monkey Boys Productions, is a theatrical wonder.

The dance is set to music by Lyadov that is rich in folk melodies (the score includes “Baba Yaga, Eight Russian Folksongs,” and “Kikimora”) and tells a tale in the old Slavic manner, populated by simple townfolk, house spirits, goblins, and creatures of the forest. This is ripe territory for Williams, who in the past has explored the lives of the Christian martyrs, pagan mythology, and magic. Here, his simple, limpid dance vocabulary suits the folk theme. The style could be called neo-naïf. The dancers’ tilted heads, turned-in poses and innocent expressions are reminiscent of icons and folk art. The costumes—colorful, Ukrainian-inspired—are highly evocative. Three crones wear beaked noses; a foundling boy is covered in feathers and moss; the house spirit, or Kikimora, is garbed in blacks and grays, with long prosthetic fingers and a rake stuck in her hair.