“Harpies,” a four-minute excerpt from “The Winged” (1966), kicked things off with five feral bird/women creatures that delightfully swarmed the stage, taking bites from their own calves while crouched in a wide-legged squat. While “Harpies” went by in a flash, “Dances for Isadora” (1971) allowed more time to fully meet the five women (Frances Lorraine Samson, Mariah Gravelin, Deepa Liegel, Jessica Sgambelluri, and Savanah Spratt) who in solo turns performed elements of Isadora’s personality and life. Scarves figured prominently in costumes by Charles D. Tomlinson, as they had in Duncan’s work. Spratt stood out in the final section, dressed in translucent black with an enormous purple flounce at her shoulders. She stamped her feet with flamenco passion, dragged one leg in an unbalanced lurch and spun as if she was tipsy. Her solo ended with a rather too literal depiction of Duncan’s famous death, strangled by her scarf.

“Orfeo” (1972),  one of Limón’s last dances, brought the best example of the choreographer’s angular movement vocabulary. Lauren Twombly performed Orfeo as more stag than human, holding a lyre overhead as if to protect—or maybe announce his approach. Three deer-like guardians brought Eurydice (Mariah Gravelin) to him, enshrouded cocoon-like by her bridal veil, while fog poured in from the wings. (Yes, the bare black box space of NYLA was transformed with wings and a rather clunky velvet curtain to resemble a proscenium stage.) As required in the myth, the two studiously avoided looking at each other as they performed an aching pas de deux. Of course, we know how this ends—ultimately Orfeo could not resist looking. The guardians returned and Eurydice was pulled back into her amazing veil to spend eternity in the underworld.