Contemporary Floorwork

Service Description

This contemporary floorwork class is geared towards intermediate level dancers of all contemporary/modern genres, regardless of previous experience with floorwork movement. We will get comfortable with pushing, pulling, rolling, sliding on the floor. We will safely build strength and ease in transitioning to and from the different vertical levels (upright, mid-level, floor). We will develop comfort with bearing weight on body parts other than just our feet. We will discover new pathways of sequencing through the body, finding new ways to initiate movement, and develop seamless transitions within phrasework. For those newer to contemporary floorwork, this will be an opportunity to better understand the technique and mechanics of floorwork movements that are so common in contemporary classes and choreography. For more experienced floorwork dancers, this class will help develop ease of movement and more seamless transitions that you can incorporate into your floor work practice. Our goal will be to find flow in our floorwork without always relying on sheer momentum. We’ll learn how momentum can be used as an artistic choice rather than the main source of movement initiation. *Recommendations - Socks and pants (or leg coverings) are highly recommended, as well as clothing that covers the shoulders. Knee pads are optional. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Joyce Lien Kushner is a second generation Taiwanese American dance artist, teacher, and maker, trained in modern, contemporary, ballet and jazz, and certified in Progressing Ballet Technique®. She has trained dancers of all ages, nourishing a philosophy that all bodies dance. She has performed and collaborated with artists throughout California – Modern City Repertoire, Strong Pulse Dance, Epiphany Dance Theater, Surhabi Suraf, Sarah Bush Dance, Amy Lewis, Five Feet Dance, and Chris Black Dance. In 2015, Joyce founded TILTshift Dance while in San Francisco. Now back in her hometown of San Diego, Joyce continues to teach and make work, while striving to build community among dance artists, uplift their voices, and create opportunities. She currently serves on Disco Riot’s board. In 2025 through TILTshift Dance, she developed and co-produced AADF, San Diego’s first Asian American dance festival, a project born of her deep desire to carve out space for AAPI dance artists to share their stories, in their own voices, on their own bodies.