Sign Language in Different Art Forms - From Dance to Sign Language Poetry - Making a Difference Berlin Owning Spaces Conference

Public Conversation in German sign language, International Sign, English spoken language with English subtitles and German spoken language interpretation

Announcement video for friday in International Sign

With this event we like to invite you to enjoy some different art forms in sign language and especially how sign language could work in the dance field (Dodzi Dougban) and in poetry (Laura Levita Valyte). The artists will join curators Rita Mazza and Kassandra Wedel in sharing their experiences in developing their sign language art in combination with other art forms like dance and performance. The audience is welcome to ask anything they would like to know about this topic.

Dodzi Dougban, a black deaf man, jumping high in the air over a dark brown wooden chair with upholstery, in front of a tainted orange wall. He is wearing red Nike shoes, jeans, a white sleeveless shirt, a grey and black beanie and a white Nike glove on his right hand raised over his head.

Dodzi Dougban is Artistic Director of the Creative Centre for Rhythm and Movement in Vest/Recklinghausen, lecturer for nonverbal communication and teaches sign language. He is deaf from an early age. His family comes from Togo and has always conveyed the culture of their country of origin at festivals and concerts. Dodzi has been an integral part of their performances of African folklore since childhood. He found his own focus in dance in hip-hop, Modern Afro and contemporary dance. With hearing dance teams he became five times German Champion and three times European Champion. As a dancer, choreograph, model and actor he has been part of various video productions, TV shows and dance theatre pieces, i.e. as a performer and coach with the EU-project Un-Label.

Black-and-white photograph of Rita Mazza, a white deaf Italian woman, sitting on a couch, her head resting on her right hand propped up on the armrest, looking directly into the camera. She is wearing a black shirt that leaves her left shoulder bare, one strand of her dark hair falling into her face between her nose and left eye. She sports painted nails, a tattoo of black lines on her left arm as well as three necklaces, earrings and a ring on her right little finger.

Rita Mazza (* in Turin) was born deaf and worked in Italy, France and Berlin as an actress and performer. She played, among others, the leading role of Sarah in God’s Forgotten Children at the Theater Artisti Associati Company in Italy. Rita Mazza is also the artistic director of the international Festival del Silenzio. She speaks Italian, German, French and International Sign Language. She lives in Berlin since 2010. After some experience as a theater and film actress in the Deaf community throughout Europe, she is currently working as a freelance artist on visual sign performances in Berlin.

Kassandra Wedel, a white deaf woman, pictured from the shoulders upwards, looking directly into the camera, her light brown, wavy hair falling into her face, partly covering her left eye. She is wearing an auburn long-sleeved shirt and golden creoles. Her hands are raised over her shoulders with splayed fingers, places next to her neck with the outside facing the camera, partly covered from her chin-length hair.

Kassandra Wedel is a deaf, freelance artist, dancer, choreograph, actress and performer. Sie teaches classes and workshops for hearing and deaf participants. She regularly performers on stages (e.g. at the German Deaf Theatre, the Opera Wuppertal, the Münchner Kammerspiele or the State Theatre in Hannover) and is featured in video or film productions. She creates her own dance performances with a range of dancers or sign language poetry for Handverlesen. Lately, she performed Visual Vibrations together with the dancer Rosalie Wanka at public places all over the city centre of Munich. She loves to experiment and uses different forms of artistic expression, such as acting, performance, hip-hop, vogue and contemporary dance, sing language and her own voice.