Dorotea Slavinsky, born in Hamburg in 1929, was part of the original troupe of Crazy Horse Paris in 1953. Under the stage name Dodo D’Hambourg, and alongside figures like Rita Renoir and Rita Cadillac, she shaped the image of the 20th-century European showgirl.

The daughter of a Protestant pastor, she grew up in a conservative household, in a home attached to the back of a church. Her young years were marked by World War II, and after her father’s death, she became her family’s provider. Cabaret entered her life out of necessity, and it quickly became her path.

In 1946, she met Edward Schneider, owner of the Colibrì cabaret in Hamburg. He hired her, later became her manager, and eventually her husband. Through the late 1940s, she toured across Europe, but as her career grew, the relationship deteriorated. Distance, both emotional and physical, became inevitable.

By 1952, she was performing in Geneva at the Bataclan cabaret when Alain Bernardin, Crazy Horse Paris founder, saw her onstage. That performance became her audition. No casting needed.

In France, her defining moment came in 1954 with an act known as The Widow. Dressed in black, she performed a mournful shows “I Want to Linger,” in what felt closer to performance art than cabaret. Shortly after debuting the act, news arrived that her husband had died. Coincidence or not, she became the real widow.

“It was a huge success anyway, I never would have thought… But I was tired of that role, I did it every night for over a year! Even in the film “The World at Night” by Luigi Vanzi I played the black widow.” she told Quotidiano Nazionale journal in 2014. 

She remained tied to Crazy Horse Paris for nearly a decade. Her final performance here came in 1960. She continued her showgirl career in major venues like the Lido and the Casino de Paris, acting in films and touring across Europe and the Middle East before retiring in 1965, at just 36.

She moved to Bologna, where she became a surrealist painter. She opened a beauty salon, founded a dance academy, and developed a deep interest in tarot. Later, she relocated to Lunigiana, restoring an old windmill into her studio. She passed away in 2019.