CV

Douglas Ridloff is a poet and visual storyteller creating original works in American Sign Language. He has gained national and international recognition, having performed in Jamaica, Cuba, France, Germany, Israel, Australia, the United Kingdom, and in such venues as the Whitney Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum, the 9/11 Memorial Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum, SITE Santa Fe, CUNY Graduate Center, the University of Chicago and the Harvard/Radcliffe Institute. Douglas’s work has been featured in NBC News, Circa, HBO, Vice, CNN’s Great Big Story, and at TEDxVienna and TEDxUniGeneva.

In addition to developing and performing original ASL poetry and narratives, Douglas has been an active promoter of ASL literature. He serves as the executive director of ASL SLAM, a monthly open mic event at the Nuyorican Cafe, whose events amassed an international following when hosted online in 2020-21.

As another means of promoting ASL to wide audiences, he has worked as an ASL Consultant for film and TV, including programs such as A Quiet Place 1 & 2, Marvel’s Eternals, Saturday Night Live, Hawkeye, and Only Murders in the Building. He is currently working as a Consulting Producer for Marvel’s ECHO.

Selected Poetry / Performance / Events / Workshops

2022

PJ Library, location (performer) The Story of Purim in ASL

2021

Radcliffe-Harvard Institute (performer, presenter) Transients: A Poetry Reading and Discussion with Douglas Ridloff

2020

Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (organizer, host, performer) Deaf Cultural Festival

2019

TEDxUniGeneva (performer) Seeing Music

The Jewish Museum, New York City (performer) Poet Douglas Ridloff Responds to OY/YO & Douglas Ridloff Responds to Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything

Planet Word, Washington, D.C. (performer) The Spoken Word

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (performer, presenter) The Sophistication of Sign Language Poetry: A Workshop by Douglas Ridloff

Rochester Institute of Technology (performer, presenter) Embodying Theory in the Classroom.

2018

TEDxVienna (performer, presenter) Deaf Poets Society

9/11 Memorial Museum (performer, presenter)

Whitney Museum (curator, performer, presenter)

Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf, Jamaica, (workshop leader)

Australia Tour (performer) Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairnes, and Perth

Israel Tour Sign (performer) Tel aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa

Norway Tour (performer, workshop leader) Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim, Bergan, and Sandefjord

2016

The Met Museum, Met Signs Tour in ASL: Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence

SITE Santa Fe, (performer) Moebius Path by Francisca Benitez with Douglas Ridloff

Whitney Museum, (curator, performer, presenter)

9/11 Memorial Museum (performer)

The Jewish Museum, New York City (performer, host) ASL SLAM

Columbia College, Chicago (artist in residence)

2015

LaGuardia Community College, New York City (workshop leader)

St. Petersburg College Clearwater Campus (workshop leader)

2013

Northeastern University, Boston (workshop leader)

Deaf Film Camp: Creative Content Development (workshop leader)

2008-2018

Douglas Ridloff Live! & The Capital D Show (performer, creative director)

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Chicago, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Boston, Las Vegas, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Miami, Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Reims, Calgary, Lyon, Cuba, Wolverhampton, Jamaica, Helsinki, Niagara Falls, Canada, and Copenhagen..