Dancers can, of course, dance without choreography, allowing the music or their own intuition to guide their moves. And choreographers can, of course, choreograph without a group of dancers, planning elaborate routines in their heads.

But the real magic of dance happens when both sides come together, as dancers expertly execute the complex choreography presented to them.

Looking to uplift both sides of the dance community and create opportunities for adult dancers and choreographers in the Inland Northwest, dancers and choreographers CarliAnn Forthun Bruner and Monica Mota co-founded Kindling Productions.

“There’s a really great system for youths, a lot of amazing schools,” Mota said. “Then once they graduate, there’s really nothing for them here when it comes to dance.”

One of the opportunities the pair created, Rising Tide, gives local choreographers and dancers a chance to work together and create pieces that highlight a variety of dance styles and artistic disciplines. Now in its second year, Rising Tide runs Friday through Sunday at Spokane Civic Theatre.

With Rising Tide, Mota and Forthun Bruner give choreographers free range to create. There are no themes they must follow and no need for short competition-style pieces. Rising Tide features evening-length, fully developed works with a total runtime of about 90 minutes, plus a 15-minute intermission.

“The other thing we’ve found is that a lot of our teachers and our choreographers work at different schools or different facilities, and they’re limited because of what they’re required to do with those places,” Mota said. “We try really hard to be like ‘We would really like to support any vision you have.’ ”

At this year’s Rising Tide, those visions include a space-themed ballet piece, a high-intensity contemporary number, a jazzy fashion show, a contemporary piece that explores the migration of the monarch butterfly, a Spanish classical contemporary piece with elements of flamenco and a contemporary piece that explores how people interact with one another.

The choreographers behind the pieces in Rising Tide, which are all family friendly, are Forthun Bruner and Mota as well as Sara Donally, Sarah Glesk, Lexie Powell and guest choreographer Alicia Mullikin, founder of Seattle’s El Sueño Dance.

When deciding on the choreographers to feature at Rising Tide, Mota and Forthun Bruner considered choreographers they’ve previously worked with or seen work from. They also strove to create an inclusive group full of personalities that would encourage other dancers and choreographers.

“We’re excited our choreographers are feeling the freedom to dream and make things happen,” Forthun Bruner said.

This year’s Rising Tide is in collaboration with Spokane Civic Theatre, which has included the show as a special event in their 77th season.

When renting a space, Forthun Bruner and Mota said they normally have one day for tech rehearsals before the final performance that evening. The next day, they must clear out of the space.

With Civic hosting though, the choreographers and dancers are able to settle in for a little longer, working with lighting technicians and set designers to build out the show.

“I feel like our bandwidth is a lot greater for focusing on the creative side of things, because the production side of things is way more taken care of, and it’s a little less scrappy this year,” Forthun Bruner said. “Last year was beautifully scrappy, but we didn’t have the luxury and the time to really get to know the space we were performing in because of rental costs.”

This week, the dancers were able to rehearse on the stage, “which is such a luxury,” Forthun Bruner said.

Along with Rising Tide, Forthun Bruner and Mota also produce 12 Minutes Max, a choreography lab which invites choreographers to work on new pieces 12 minutes or shorter in length, and Ghostlight, a one-night-only event that features dance, aerialists and live music.

The benefits of such events are two-fold, the pair said. Dancers and choreographers have a chance to bring an idea to fruition and present that work in their community and beyond, while members of that community have more chances to view and be moved by diverse styles of dance.

“This community is powerful, and it’s talented, but I think that for whatever reason, it can get overlooked at times,” Forthun Bruner said. “Rising Tide, we strategically chose that name for this show because we are wanting to uplift our entire community. We’ve got stuff going on here, and we want to shout it from the rooftops.”