Opening the piece with energy was “Summer,” by Morgann Runacre-Temple, created for nearly the entire company of sixteen. Often, the dancers, facing outwards, formed a circle or the arc of a circle and pulled or swayed against each other. At times, a group of dancers, converging on another group, produced a gentle flower-like explosion upwards. A notable segment, though riveting was puzzling: in each of two groups, a woman stood on the shoulders of two men while a third in the back reached up to steady her at the upper thighs and a fourth might have been a spotter. The two groups slowly came closer, and each woman reached out to tentatively touch the top of the other’s head.

Penny Saunders’s “Autumn” also employed the full company to great effect. Swirling past each other in loose costumes of rich autumn colors, the dancers gave the sense of leaf-blown motion, propelled by a force outside themselves. Quieter passages employed women dancers only or men dancers only. Dancers in these groupings tended to move together, seeming to share a common goal that was elusive. Paired dancing was another highlight. Each pair would do something spectacular and exit as pairs succeeded each other at a fast pace. The autumn wind could be felt nearly throughout.

Jamar Roberts’s “Winter” was an icy world in which the backdrop was nearly bleached by the lighting and further lit to produce a mirror image in the water so everything seemed even colder. The dancers were in silvery grey-white tunics with fluttering fabric on the body, glistening with icy crystals. The scene began in near silence into which single liquid notes dropped one by one. Dancers in pointe shoes carefully stepped to those notes, one step, another, and another, like long-legged birds picking their way. Arms joined the stalky legs, sometimes rotated, other times waving. The motif established, one began to see there were also men dancers. Throughout, there was much emphasis on arms moving from strong shoulders, which are after all the most powerful muscles of birds.