Last fall Minnesota Dance Theatre premiered "Edifice Wrecks" at the Cowles Center. While well-received, it turns out the work is much better suited to the warehouse environs of the Lab Theater, where it was performed Thursday night as an evening-length "unabridged" version.

Choreographed by artistic director Lise Houlton with contributions from creative collaborator Dane Stauffer, the piece explores relationships in a shifting landscape — three large, movable set pieces with portals meant for dramatic entries and exits. The lofty Lab space, with its exposed brick walls, allows for light and shadow play with the set as well as the dancers themselves. Sometimes you don't see the person moving, but their image flickers across a far wall, adding a ghostly effect.

The work features Jeremy Bensussan, Sam Feipel, Raina Gilliland, Helen Hatch, Katie Johnson and new company member Wyatt Peterson as inhabitants of this constantly changing world. They interact with one another in sensual, playful and combative ways, but they also have curious watchers — young MDT trainees Carlie Clemmerson, Zoe Derauf and Sophia McCoy — who observe and respond, sometimes mirroring the movement of their older counterparts.

Sometimes "Edifice Wrecks" wanders thematically, but that could be explained as an intentional choice. Once a dancer encounters a situation there are many possible outcomes, and Houlton explores the options.

Feipel and Gilliland's sultry, flowing duet logically leads to later scenes in which they and other performers explore the mechanics of domesticity. A pratfall-filled encounter for Bensussan and Feipel — in which each joyfully knocks the other around — paves the way for other moments in which they (joined by Peterson) send Johnson and Hatch into acrobatic flights of fancy. Particularly fun is a complete alteration of perspective so we can see all the antics that occur behind the scenes.

It seems like MDT has been searching for an identity in recent years, weathering controversies (including the resignation of its entire board of directors in January) and likely engaging in some soul-searching after 52 years in existence. But the troupe has a strong base with its current roster of dancers, and "Edifice Wrecks" furthers founder Loyce Houlton's tradition of merging experimentation with classicism. And the teen trainees offer up some hope for the future. Clemmerson, Derauf and McCoy are poised to soar.

Caroline Palmer writes about dance.