New York Theater Ballet at Gould Hall New York Theater Ballet with, from far left, Philip King, Elena Zahlmann, Steven Melendez and Rie Ogura, in "The Moor's Pavane," by José Limón at Gould Hall on Friday. The New York Theater Ballet's Signatures series juxtaposes old and new. Usually the vintage stuff - forgotten or rarely performed works by master choreographers - is best, but sometimes, as in the program performed on Friday at Gould Hall, the balance is more even. Elena Zahlmann in James Waring's dance "An Eccentric Beauty Revisited." First came the old. The early Merce Cunningham dance "Septet" (1953) is a smart choice for a chamber ballet troupe. The independence of dance from music in most Cunningham works can confuse the uninitiated, but this choreography corresponds closely to the Erik Satie score. And the work's simultaneous adoption and tweaking of ballet conventions provide these dancers with a bridge to Cunningham style. If Amanda Garrett's pleasing mystique in the Carolyn Brown role wasn't what you would expect from a Cunningham dancer, it didn't mar an otherwise lucid rendering of an important Cunningham dance. By contrast, Elena Zahlmann's clean performance of James Waring's piece "An Eccentric Beauty Revisited" (1972) failed to justify the work's revival. This solo, also set to Satie, uses coquettish inflection to conjure a music-hall dancer. But the attitude behind the costume (alluding to a Nijinsky role), the purposeful mistakes and the handyman walk-on were unclear. Was this parody? Camp nostalgia? Mr. Waring, an eccentric artist nearly forgotten, was an influential figure. It was disappointing that New York Theater Ballet - led by Diana Byer, a former member of Mr. Waring's company - didn't reveal why. José Limón's "Moor's Pavane" (1949) requires no special pleading. Though it isn't performed nearly as often as it used to be, Limón's compression of the Othello story into a Baroque dance still looks like a masterpiece. And this cast approximated the weight and tension of Limón style enough for the drama to come through in the steps. Of the three new works, Richard Alston's "Rugged Flourish" (2011), scheduled last, was the most accomplished and absorbing. The suggestion of faun and nymphs in its setup of one man (the wonderfully expansive Steven Melendez) among six women is only one of several connections between this dance and "Septet." Mr. Alston studied with Cunningham, and bookending the show with those two choreographers was indicative of the generally thoughtful programming. Before that, Gemma Bond's premiere, "Run Loose," was a quick trifle in which two young lovers did pretty much what the title says. But "City Scenes," which Antonia Franceschi made for the British troupe Ballet Black in 2009, was a surprise. Ms. Franceschi danced with New York City Ballet in the 1980s and has been living in England since 1995. Choreographed to Allen Shawn's "Childhood Scenes," her "City Scenes" is more childlike than urban and too cutesy in spots. There are echoes of Balanchine all through it, but if the dance is imitative, it also demonstrates lessons well learned, particularly concerning musically responsive structuring. We should see more of Ms. Franceschi's work. The evening's two musical interludes seemed superfluous, but dancers need breaks, after all. And for the pleasure of watching a small group acquit itself credibly in an impressive array of styles, waiting through a few nice piano pieces isn't a bad tradeoff.