Justin Peck is presumably under a lot of pressure. The past year has brought a major leadership change at New York City Ballet, where he is the resident choreographer (and since that transition, also the artistic adviser). The company remains entangled in a #MeToo-era lawsuit brought by a former student of its affiliated school; anyone in a position of power there is under heightened public scrutiny. At the same time, he has been choreographing Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of “West Side Story” (coming in December), one of the most high-profile gigs a choreographer could land.

In the midst of all this, what does it mean to show up to the studio and make a new ballet? Can the studio be a refuge? An anchor? In a quiet way, Mr. Peck’s latest piece, “Rotunda,” which had its premiere on Wednesday at the David H. Koch Theater, evokes the daily work of dancing and dance-making: the process of showing up again and again, the starts and stops, breakthroughs and imperfections.

One of Mr. Peck’s strengths has always been his rapport with City Ballet’s dancers, a function of his insider status as a company member. (He was a soloist until last year.) His early works were remarkable for the natural camaraderie the dancers seemed to share. More recently, though, that communal spirit has struck me as less authentic, almost rote, more performance than truth.