Ms. Streb's works to sound scores by Reid Hayes possessed a wild vitality. Christopher Batenhorst, Henry Beer, Paula Gifford, Peter Larose and Ms. Streb crowded into a corner of a red-walled space in ''Backboard 4'' and played a manic basketball game, dribbling balls, tossing them and crashing to the floor with them. The dance derived its charm from the way they tried to cram big movements into cramped quarters.

''Little Ease'' was based on the same principle. The set, designed by Ms. Streb, was simply a small box. One almost expected to see a puppet show inside it. Instead, one saw Ms. Streb thrashing about, looking like Alice in Wonderland when she found she couldn't stop growing.

Ms. Gifford and Michael Schwartz hung suspended above the stage by harnesses and cords in ''Airwaves.'' Their midair whirlings were undeniably spectacular, but because the performers kept narrowly missing the theater's lighting equipment, their stunts became unsettling rather than exhilarating to watch.

In Ms. Perron's ''Down Like Rain,'' two couples (Lisa Bush and Michael O'Rourke, and Vicky Shick and Donald Fleming) struggled to get along together. Dancers approached one another with affection yet also broke apart. Into their midst came Ms. Perron, wearing shabby clothes that made her resemble a homeless person. Nevertheless, she managed to calm the other dancers. The melancholy second movement of Schubert's Piano Sonata in A (D. 959), as played by Bob Telson, served as an appropriate accompaniment. Although Ms. Perron could have told us more about her enigmatic characters, what she did tell was interesting.

Ms. Fenley is best known for her fast and furious dances. But in ''Provenance Unknown,'' to rippling piano music by Philip Glass played by Alan Johnson, she stepped cautiously as if venturing through mists. Much of this solo had a meditative calm. But there were also repetitive passages that failed to intensify any mood or emotional effect. And, when moving very slowly, Ms. Fenley found it difficult to sustain gestures.

Dance Chance's second program will be offered Wednesday through Jan. 14 at the Bessie Schonberg Theater, 219 West 19th Street.