Choreography Showcase will feature the debut of original choreography by company members of Point Dance Ensemble at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Lettie Jensen Community Center in Amherst.

Tickets will cost $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens or students and free for children 5 years of age and younger. Tickets will be available at the door the day of the performance.

The matinee performance features a variety of styles of dance, including contemporary, jazz and modern. Company members explored choreography concepts and composing pieces ranging from solos to group pieces.

The show will have 11 pieces, with a mix of group and solo performances. Including a brief intermission, the performance will last about an hour and 15 minutes.

A bake sale will take place during the intermission, with coffee and hot chocolate available. That sale helps raise money to fund a March performance and other activities, including expansion of a program at the Boys and Girls Club of Portage County in Plover and a program the Point Dance Ensemble is working on for civility issues.

The Showcase is an annual opportunity for the company members to present their original choreography, said Pamela Luedtke, artistic director of Point Dance Ensemble.

The dancers began choreographing their pieces during a summer intensive at the end of July and continued working on their pieces as they rehearsed for “Nutcracker,” Luedtke said, then working more intently in November.

“There will be works in progress and completed pieces,” she said. “We approach this as a process. Sometimes choreography takes a little longer than they anticipate. We talk about choreography concepts and developments, a theme and spatial items. It’s a toolbox approach to choreography.”

Luedtke said she pretty much gives the dancers guidance to test their own voices in the selection and allows them to work on their own.

“Toward the end, we share the work with the company, and I give them feedback and any thoughts to keep in mind, and they can take it or leave it,” she said. “I feel they need to understand the art form and they choose their own music, deciding whether they want a solo performance or a group. It’s my favorite performance of the season.”

Point Dance Ensemble is a local, nonprofit dance company that was founded in January 2000 and is not affiliated with any specific dance studio. The mission of PDE is to promote the art of dance in the central Wisconsin area through educational workshops, performances and other artistic opportunities.

Point Dance Ensemble offers a professional experience for young dancers and introduces them to different aspects of dance including performing, rehearsing, choreographing and teaching. This performance is the only venue that offers emerging artists the opportunity to present their own choreography.

Choreographers and performers of the Showcase include Alana Culver, Dominque Jamison, Bryanna Kirsch, Sydney Morgan, Stana Luedtke, Terez Luedtke, Alida Richards, Ariel Seefelt, Gabby Sroda, Marissa Stolt, Julia Tutton, Kennedy VanderLoop, Skyler Wachsmuth and Martha Yenter.

They are the 14 students in the dance company, and each is given the chance to create a dance to perform in the Showcase or to perform in a group.

Funding for this event was made possible by grant funding through the Wisconsin Art Board and The National Endowment for the Arts and the Central Wisconsin Community Foundation.

The March Showcase will be held at Sentry’s [email protected], 1800 North Point Drive, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 6. Some of the dances from the Jan. 16 performance will be included in that Showcase.

For more information about the Showcase or Point Dance Ensemble, contact Luedtke at 715-592-4140 or [email protected] or visit Point Dance Ensemble’s website at www.pointdance.org. Point Dance Ensemble is also on Facebook.