The live choir should help, and help is what it seems to offer — the smooth yet vulnerable tenor of Nicholas Ryan Gant (who also did the simple choral arrangement) progressing from lyrics about confusing emotional landscapes to assurances that love is all around. Mr. Abraham, balled up and fetal at the start, gradually unfurls before briefly exploding in a frenzy, buoyed by the air of an offstage fan.

The unfurling is not just slow, though. It’s slight. The music doesn’t help Mr. Abraham out of his rut, and neither does the Nico Muhly score (“Four Studies”) he has chosen for the ensemble premiere, “Studies on a Farewell.” The electronic drone under two live violinists is becoming a kind of comforting cocoon for Mr. Abraham. It supports a beautiful floating quality in this series of tender duets, almost a continuous surrender in backbends and dips, but it encourages and highlights the lack of development.

Yet where that work ends is, in a sense, where the program begins. Keerati Jinakunwiphat, the last dancer onstage in “Studies,” is the choreographer of the program opener, “Big Rings.” The rings in question are hoops, as this is a basketball-themed dance complete with team hoodies and colorfully retro jerseys (courtesy of Karen Young, who, like all of the company’s designers, makes it look fashion-forward). The choreography plays enjoyably with the game’s silky grace, relay action and formations. Although it falls into some rookie-choreographer traps, it has more shape than Mr. Abraham’s efforts.

Those include “Show Pony,” a 2018 solo about the pressures of being on display and having to deliver. The shiny-suited dancer (Marcella Lewis, amazing on Tuesday, alternates with the extraordinary Tamisha Guy) becomes a robot of ripples, her humanity more hidden than revealed in forced smiles and “who, me?” gestures. It’s a striking effect, and one that, typically for Mr. Abraham, goes nowhere.