Fun and games rule rule in Alexei Ratmansky’s new “Concerto DSCH,” a crowd-pleaser that made its debut at New York City Ballet last week and will undoubtedly serve the company well. It was performed superlatively to Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and, according to the program note, the ballet’s title refers to a sequence of musical notes that Shostakovich used as a whimsically coded signature. Transcribed in German notation, they also represent his initials transliterated into German. The ballet is as prankish and sometimes as arch as the choreographer’s decision to reference a joke of Shostakovich’s own devising.

Over the past decade, Mr. Ratmansky has become one of the world’s most in-demand choreographers; in addition to freelance work for many companies, he leaves Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet this year after four years as artistic director. The Western influence in Mr. Ratmansky’s work has likely helped his success here. Attending a Ratmansky ballet, a Western audience recognizes its own artistic pedigree. Here, in “Concerto DSCH,” the opening and closing allegros are fast and furious, the stage a multi-ringed spectacle resembling Twyla Tharp’s ventures into the balletic domain. Mr. Ratmansky’s retentive and imaginative mind can sometimes result in what seems like undigested and opportunistic quotations, but here his own voice stays grounded.

Although it’s only around 20 minutes, the pace is nearly always unrelenting — the central andante is less busy — and the cascades of steps so relentless that it looks like an endurance test for the dancers. There are turn-on-a-dime non sequiturs throughout the ballet. We see a circular cluster onstage as the ballet begins. Dancers then pop out as if emerging from a womb. The circle becomes a chorus line, arms intersecting latticelike, then arms being linked. A trio of whiz-bang technicians — Ashley Bouder, Gonzalo Garcia, and Joaquin de Luz — make themselves seen and felt immediately. Then Wendy Whelan and Benjamin Millepied arrive. Ms. Whelan was somberly prominent in “Russian Seasons,” Mr. Ratmansky’s first ballet for NYCB in 2006, and here she functions as a counterpart to Ms. Bouder’s stage-devouring energy and attack.

Somewhat in the manner of Jerome Robbins, the dancers are frequently portrayed as children at heart. Jonathan Stafford performs a series of small repeating jumps, hammering away like a frustrated youngster. Later, there’s a moment when it’s Mr. Garcia who pounds the floor in unexplained frustration.

Emotional vignettes take precedence during the andante. The ensemble alternately watches Mr. Millepied partner Ms. Whelan and dances around them. Mr. Millepied supports Ms. Whelan in spiraling lifts, but there is some alienation between them. At the end of the andante, the men walk off to one side and the women exit by the opposite, until only Ms. Whelan and Mr. Millepied remain standing downstage at opposite corners. The separation of the sexes here contrasts to their mutual and reciprocal traffic throughout the ballet. There’s a lot of unisex partnering as well as roughhousing, as when the trio of dancers roll over each other.

In addition to the trio and lead couple, Mr. Ratmansky used some of the company’s other leading dancers, a number of whom also appeared in “Russian Seasons.” But he hasn’t given them very much that’s significant to do. It may be that the choreography is difficult enough that Mr. Ratmansky didn’t trust dancers less seasoned, but it’s hard to avoid the impression that they are exploited rather than employed. Such individualization as occurs among them mostly takes the form of instantaneously assembled tableaux that contrast concerted and autonomous elements, examples of what might be called visual syncopation. We see a small group of soloist arms linked, then the women bend forward, lowered to the ground by their partners; but one couple suddenly breaks rank and stands apart, kissing instead.

The hyperkinesis and the wisps of emotional incident come together in the final allegro. Ms. Bouder and Mr. de Luz partner each other before Mr. Garcia comes flying back on and each of the three takes turns ricocheting between the other two in sautés. Mr. Millepied reappears to join them, and then Ms. Whelan follows, miffed when she sees that Mr. Millepied is flirting with Ms. Bouder. The final configuration is a human totem pole, as Mr. de Luz leaps on Mr. Gonzalez’s shoulders, while he surmounts Ms. Bouder.