You can use him in the expansion. Not sure why so many people think that Dawnguard is seperate from the game.
Because it sounds like it's very big... and considering some games -Dragon Age- do most there big expansions as stand alone DLC not as add-ons/expansions
-edit- But yes you can use your already existing character for the DLC, Dawnguard only expands skyrim and add two or more large areas, with a main quest arc and some side quests... and ONLY that