David Arevalo

David Arevalo is a Texas-born, Queer, Mexican, costume maker, designer, artist and educator. Arevalo's research is reflective of his lived experience – it is intersectional and profoundly personal. It combines the practices of traditional costume design and costume technology and transforms them through an exploration of the ways in which non-textual dramaturgies can communicate story and identity. Arevalo construct clothes and narratives by incorporating rigorous technical expertise and a practice of embodied research into three-dimensional representations of identity. Arevalo's transdisciplinary and collaborative approach challenges an established separation between the fields of costume making and costume design and creates a practice that honors and explores both simultaneously. His practice with a generational and embodied knowledge passed down as a professionally trained dressmaker and tailor, while exploring new ways of creating identity through costume making.

What do you enjoy most about being a part of UT Theatre and Dance?

I love the feeling that I have returned home to a place that shaped the artist I am today. The ability to invest and invigorate the best and brightest of Texas' students at this public institution is something that I am immensely proud of.

What is your favorite thing about Austin?

Tacos, the endless blue skies, and the constant breeze that makes the heat seem almost pleasant sometimes.

Fabric Draping, Pattern Making, Tailoring Techniques for Live Performance, Clothing Construction for Live Performance, Costume Crafts, Digital Rendering, Costume Design

Draping for the Live Performer I & II, Tailoring for the Live Performer I & II, Fabric Dying and Painting, Introduction to 3D Modeling and Printing for Costumes, Introduction to Couture Techniques

Cutter/Draper (selected): 

The Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe, NM - 2014, 2016-2018, 2024. 

Previous Costume Designs (selected): 

Aztlan - The Magic Theatre, San Francisco, CA; Private Lives - The Alley Theatre, Houston, TX; What the Constitution Means to Me - Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre, Oklahoma City, OK; Selling Kabul - Northlight Theatre, Chicago, IL; MACHO Sensibilities - Bard College Dance Program, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY; Laughs in Spanish - Stages, Houston, TX and TheatreSquared, Fayetteville, AK; Don’t Let the Pigeon Sing Up Late! - The Kennedy Center and Washington National Opera.