Circus Embodied Learning of Torah

Dr. Ora Horn Prouser is the CEO and Academic Dean at The Academy for Jewish Religion. She has worked with educational institutions to develop Bible curricula and pedagogy. Her book, Esau’s Blessing: How the Bible Embraces Those with Special Needs was recognized as a National Jewish Book Council finalist. Her more recent book, Under One Tent: Circus, Judaism, and Bible breaks new ground in the use of movement and circus arts in studying biblical text.

Ayal Prouser has been a professional circus artist and coach for over 10 years. He is co-founder of Time Flies Circus, a mobile circus school. He has performed and taught across the United States as well as in Asia, Europe and Africa. Ayal has received funding from the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, the Jerome Foundation, Clark University and Columbia University for circus research and creation. His graduate work at Columbia University was on the intersection of queer theory and film theory, and circus studies. He has multiple publications on the subject of circus. He is the editor of “Under One Tent: Circus Judaism and Bible” and his work can be found elsewhere including ”The Big Top on the Big Screen: Explorations of the Circus in Film” as well as in journals. His main circus disciplines are flying trapeze and juggling. He is especially interested in bringing flying trapeze more fully into the contemporary circus world.

Loen Amer has been an experiential Jewish educator working with teens since she was one herself! She has served at Temple Israel of Great Neck as the Director of Teen and Community Engagement, and at Bet Torah in Mt Kisco–first as their Director of Youth Engagement, and then as their Director of Experiential Learning for Children and Teens. Loen has also worked for Ramah Israel, the Hillel at Hofstra University, Woodbury Jewish Center, and Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn Heights. 

Loen has a voracious love for lifelong Jewish learning, and most recently studied Torah le’shmah, Torah for its own sake, at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. She lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side and enjoys baking and reading.