New York City Ballet celebrated the opening of its season with a Tuesday-night gala program titled “Ballet Four Ways.” The four ways represented the company’s four main choreographers: Peter Martins, Christopher Wheeldon, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins.

Mr. Martins was represented by his new work “Octet,” set to music by Mendelssohn. An abstract work, “Octet” featured two lead couples – Ashley Bouder and Benjamin Millepied and Darci Kistler and Stephen Hanna – surrounded by six male dancers. Though musical at times, and vivacious, too, “Octet” looked more like an exercise in technique and endurance for the male corps de ballet than a work for the ages.

Mr. Martins put the boys through their paces. The dancers completed tricky jumps and turns that sent them flying in the opposite direction of where they were looking. The stage was full of pop and speed. The work for the couples was often slower, and felt too contrived and rarely smooth or natural. But the performances were well executed: Ms. Kistler and Mr. Hanna had a strong duet that was danced gracefully by both and Ms. Bouder and Mr. Millepied had more aggressive work, which they handled with verve.

Throughout the work were flashes of musical visualization, with a dancer popping onto the stage or jumping into the air just to the music. But “Octet,” unlike Mr. Martin’s “Hallelujah Junction,” did not sustain that gripping sense of musicality throughout.

For the Balanchine portion of the evening, “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” was danced by Sofiane Sylve and Charles Askegard. This was Ms. Sylve’s debut in the ballet, and she completed it with a blend of charm and athleticism. But this performance did not have the relaxed yet thrilling air that the work can have. A little more lithe flow, and a little less tension, perhaps, might have made the difference. Mr. Askegard danced cleanly, but without a high polish.

Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto danced Christopher Wheeldon’s “Liturgy,” a duet that the choreographer made for them. A dark work that uses ballet vocabulary, but with a very contemporary accent, “Liturgy” is gripping, with these two dancers crawling all over each other. Arvo Part’s moody score and Mark Stanley’s dramatic lighting combine to enhance the piercing clarity of the choreography. Mr. Soto and Ms. Whelan work so seamlessly together; their bodies together in this piece can suggest lovers, insects, or just dancers performing a wildly creative work.

The program concluded with a lovely performance of Robbins’s “I’m Old Fashioned,” a work that always sends a crowd off – and into a new ballet season – with a glamorous feeling.