After they collaborated on “Working in Process/New Bodies” for Works and & Process at the Guggenheim, Ms. Mearns asked Ms. Melnick to choreograph a duet for the two of them. “She was very adamant and serious about dancing with me,” Ms. Melnick said.

Though she prefers to work alone at the start of any process — “that loneliness factor is really important to me,” Ms. Melnick said — Ms. Mearns wore her down, and she had a partner in the studio last fall.

As they worked together, Ms. Mearns would follow along behind Ms. Melnick. “When something happened that I felt was of interest to her or to me, I would stop and teach it to her,” Ms. Melnick said. “It kind of reminded me of processes that I’ve been in with other choreographers where you don’t question or judge.”

But in late December, Ms. Melnick was involved in a motorcycle accident; her ankle was severely damaged. She didn’t start walking again until the end of March and remains in considerable pain.

“I was like, O.K.,” Ms. Melnick said. “Kind of like, game over, and then after talking to my surgeons and Sara — she was like, ‘Don’t make a decision, let’s just get back into the studio and see what happens.’ If it wasn’t for her, I’d probably still be not dancing or not even doing this well in my recovery.”

For the duet, “Opulence,” they will perform in sneakers; Ms. Melnick is exploring how seemingly simple movement can have many facets. “There’s something that feels very opulent in cutting things down and keeping it very minimal,” she said.