Emanuel Gat Dance, which opened on Wednesday at Lincoln Center, proves the old saw that good things come in small packages. In a performance that lasted a little more than one hour, this five-person company presented two pieces, “Winter Voyage” and “The Rite of Spring.” Both were spare, yet rich; precise, yet alluring. And both employ excellent choices of music.

“Winter Voyage” is a dance for two men set to selections from Schubert’s song cycle “Winterreise.” The songs are brooding, with lyrics that suggest cold loneliness. The choreography matches that isolation by having the two men dance closely, but without ever establishing a clear, emotional relationship.

The men could be competing: Throughout the work, they quietly try to best each other, and at the end, Mr. Gat (who dances in his own show) stands hip-to-hip with Roy Assay, only to sneak his shoulder, arm, and hand slightly in front of Mr. Assay. It’s a tiny gesture that implies dominance; Mr. Assay simply stares straight ahead while Mr. Gat gets in front of him.

Or they could be lovers: During the second song, they stand facing each other, nose to nose for a few seconds, then proceed with Mr. Gat’s choreography, which is a masculine take on contemporary dance. There is much running from place to place, stopping for a brief swirl of the arms or maybe a push up-type move. Sometimes they dance the same moves in unison — or timed just seconds apart. But they rarely appear to look at each other or manifest feelings of longing or passion. There is a moment when Mr. Gat seems on the verge of putting his arm around Mr. Assay, but he doesn’t.

“Winter Voyage” seems most like an imagined sliver of memory in which a lost friend is recalled. The Schubert songs add a heavy layer of sadness, and the remoteness on the dancers’ faces compounds it. Before each song, they dance a few moments in silence, which sets a serious tone but tends to get a bit tedious.There are also some bright moments. In a series of everyday movements, one guy runs his hand over his bald head while the other does a dancefloor point.

Whatever is going on here, Mr. Gat’s vocabulary is meaty and absolutely trimmed of fat. “Winter Voyage” is alluring because it is so aloof. The relationship between the men is neither telegraphed in the dance nor memorialized in the program notes. This is a work that, with a noble sort of restraint, grips the eye and piques curiosity.

Mr. Gat also danced in “The Rite of Spring,” set to Stravinsky’s famous score.The choreographer enhances the creepy, pagan aspects of the music by taking the scene out of the forest and into civilization.

On a blackened stage lies a rectangular red carpet on which five dancers (two men and three women in modern dress) dance a manic, deconstructed version of the salsa. Throughout the piece, this salsa dancing intermittently serves as a fallback movement that seems to set everything on a civilized course. It suggests that we can all play together nicely; if someone drops out, another dancer can fill in.

And from order, chaos ensues. Mr. Gat’s choreography is highly musical: When the crashes in the music explode, the salsa falls away and one dancer is lifted across the stage, with her extended leg slicing through space. When the music goes into a wild frenzy, one man jumps on the carpet in a breakdancetype move. At anther point, the music suggests a hunt, and the group stands on the carpet together, each person rolling one shoulder back, then another. The visual effect is of a herd of running animals.

At any moment, couples form and break up. The partners pick up other people, then start the salsa pattern again.What’s truly impressive is the intricacy built into the dance.The salsa is performed in a casual, remote manner, but there was nothing loose about it; I saw no missed hands or wobbled steps.

By the end, one woman is left alone for the ritual sacrifice. Unlike in previous performances of this work, however, she does not strip to her waist. Instead, she simply, quietly lies down on her back — and the music ends.

The lighting design, also created by Mr. Gat, brilliantly complements the dance and the music. The stage starts out dark, but gets light and bluish when things lighten up. It’s followed quickly by a deep black that suggests human evil.

Like “Winter Voyage,” “The Rite of Spring” makes the audience do the thinking. There is no hand-holding here.The music, dance, and lighting are all searing — and it’s for you to decide how to feel the heat.

July 14 and 15 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).