Joyce Lien Kushner

Joyce Lien Kushner is a SoCal native, trained in modern, contemporary, ballet and jazz. She is also a certified Progressing Ballet Technique® instructor. As a dance teaching artist, Joyce has trained dancers of all ages and has performed and collaborated with artists all over California. In 2015, Joyce founded TILTshift Dance in San Francisco.

Now in San Diego, Joyce continues to teach, make work, and holds open space for other dance artists to create and work. From 2024-2025, she was an 18-month artist-in-residence at ARTS DISTRICT Liberty Station, which helped her further these endeavors. During that time, Joyce introduced ChoreoWreck to the San Diego dance community, a choreographic process known as “wrecking” that provides artists a unique way to dig deeper into their dance making practice. Joyce also developed and now presents San Diego’s first Asian-American Dance Festival (AADF), a multi-day festival that provides AAPI dance/movement artists a platform to share their stories, in their own voices, on their own bodies. Both ChoreoWreck and AADF are presented by TILTshift Dance.

Teaching Philosophy

“The practice of training and educating dancers continually evolves. Dance techniques and styles change, and today's choreographers require versatile dancers. I focus my practice on contemporary approaches and truly enjoy teaching all levels and ages. When working with trained dancers, particularly classically trained dancers, I help them find new movement pathways, ease in muscular effort, and added dimension in movement quality. How I teach reflects my concern for dancer longevity. I often incorporate functional anatomy and use somatic approaches in my classes. When working with novice dancers, the joy of dance is first and foremost for me. Adult beginning dancers hold a special place in my heart, as I myself retuned to dance in my mid 40s after almost 20 years away and having a kid. Thankfully, "who can dance" has evolved. I believe that dance is for everyone and every BODY – if you can move, you can dance. My class is not only a place for training, it is a safe, inclusive space for exploration, investigation, play, and above all, acceptance.”