This has been a particularly strong year for Thodos Dance Chicago, one marked by the world premiere of the ambitious multimedia work “The White City” — a vivid dance-theater piece choreographed by Melisssa Thodos and Ann Reinking, and inspired by the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

But the quest for new work is an ongoing priority for Thodos, a big proponent of nurturing choreographic talent from within the ranks of her own company. And her 11th annual New Dances showcase, presented throughout the weekend at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, put nine new pieces in the spotlight, all of them danced with great verve and impressive technique by a mix of her own fiercely dedicated ensemble and guest performers. Throughout, the production values were high, with Nathan Tomlinson’s gorgeous sculptural lighting of particular note.

Wade Schaaf’s “Shostakovich Piano Concerto,” came last, but it would be difficult to imagine a more bravura finale. Set to the Russian composer’s driving, high-speed Piano Concerto No. 2 in F (with aptly Constructivist-style costumes in red, black and gray by Nathan Rohrer), the piece — a keeper — is a mix of balletic sweep and acrobatic daring that winningly captures the score’s fire. The dancers, led by the tiny, emotionally fierce Jessica Miller Tomlinson, included Jackie Stewart, Alissa Gigler, Lisa Scurlock, Danielle Scanlon, John Cartwright, Joshua Manculich, Robert McKee and Tony Suhadolnik.

Tomlinson also served as a choreographer. And her piece, “In Tongues,” proved to be one of the quirkier escapades on the lineup. Using the music of the Talking Heads, she not only delved into the wacky, pulse-altering rhythms and mindset of that group and its maestro, David Byrne, but suggested its surreality from the start as one by one, guys in cream-colored slacks and shirts (along with a French maid in full regalia) were “deposited” onto the stage. Once there, they jogged in place before bursting out into manic comic theater (and a baptismal “cooling off”) inspired by the lyrics of “Psycho Killer.”

With “Exurgence,” set to an intriguing score by Zoe Keating that begins with heartbeatlike drumming, choreographers Jeremy Blair and Mollie Mock have created a sexy ritualistic mood piece with strong segments featuring a duet, a trio and four couples. The work was danced with total conviction, with Cristina Suarez and Robert Mckee particularly outstanding.

Michael MacDonald’s “Clouded Reflection,” with its silent beginning yielding to the music of Lutz Glandien and Peder, weaves a spell at once sexy and mysterious. And Brian Hare’s “tre-ter-tri,” another mysterious, sensual piece — for six women in navy blue lace chemises ultimately pulled off to reveal white underthings — created a tense but dreamlike aura.

Rebecca Lemme, the sole guest choreographer, contributed “Effigy,” which has an interesting opening sequence and a finale of release, but loses interest along the way. The same is true of Joshua Manculich’s “i carry it,” in which the dancers, using scarflike loops of fabric, suggest what they are bound to.

Connection also was the theme of the program’s opening work, John Cartwright’s deftly gestural “Communication Connection,” which opens with the dancers putting their hands to their ears and ultimately letting their bodies suggest waves of sound and motion. And it was the theme explored in Jacqueline Stewart’s “The Art of Ice Cream,” which intriguingly suggested insiders and outsiders with a familiar “modern dance” movement vocabulary that seemed perversely at odds with the snap, crackle and pop of the music she chose, including Little Eva’s “Locomotion” and tracks by Olafur Arnalds, Petula Clark, Pat Metheny and Ray Charles.

Clearly Thodos wants to give maximum exposure to her artists, but a more carefully pruned program would highlight the gems and cut down on repetition. In any case, New Dances is an important project, and one realized on a high level.