Dodzi Dougban
Dodzi Dougban is a black dancer and performer with dreadlocks standing beside a mirror in a dance hall, with his reflection visible behind him. The room is lit by the sunlight coming in through a big window. He wears a light green hoodie, black trousers and he has his arms crossed. He is looking direcly at the photographer with a calm expression.
A photo of Dodzi Dougban. a black dancer and perfomer with dreadlocks, sitting on a metal staircase outdoors. He wears a a light green hoodie and black vest, his hands are leaning forward while he looks calmly at the camera.
Dodzi Dougban, born in 1979, is a Deaf dancer and performer who grew up in Recklinghausen, Germany. He is Deaf from birth.
As a professional dancer, choreographer, model, and actor, he has performed in numerous stage productions and performance projects. Influenced by these experiences, he found his artistic focus in hip-hop dance, and became five-time German champion and three-time European champion together with hearing dance crews.
Dougban’s work as a performer always bridges the Deaf and hearing worlds. As an artist, he poetically integrates elements of sign language into dance, creating a unique physical language on stage.
His work as a dancer, choreographer, and actor has been featured in various video productions, television films, and dance theatre pieces. Most recently, he appeared in Time to Shine (directed and choreographed by Takao Baba) at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, and in Hell and Swanfate (choreographed by Ursina Tossi), coproduced by Kampnagel Hamburg and TanzFaktur Cologne.
Since 2013, he has been closely collaborating with the EU project Un-Label, with which he most recently developed the production Gravity.
Dodzi Dougban lives in Recklinghausen, Germany.
Contact details
Dodzi Dougban
Professional dancer, choreographer, model and actor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dzi.dougban/
Faterhood
Description: "Fatherhood”, a solo dance performance, gives voice to Deaf fathers who, after separation,
often face systemic discrimination and loss of contact with their children.
Extra information: Through a powerful blend of sign language, hip-hop, krumping, and contemporary dance, the piece explores themes of exclusion, longing, and resilience. Through documentary elements such as interviews and video projections, a multifaceted portrait of fatherhood emerges: vulnerable, angry, tender and full of longing. Using interviews, projections, and historical references from postwar US soldiers to Mozambican contract workers in East Germany. This solo work draws a deeply personal and political portrait of marginalized fatherhood.
dir. Dodzi Dougban
