Tlaloc Rivas (Lecturer in TDPS and Drama) stands at the intersection of stage directing, playwriting, higher education, and arts advocacy.
Tlaloc’s theatrical roots began at El Teatro Campesino, the Chicano troupe founded by Luis Valdez to support Cesar Chavez’s Delano Grape Strike in 1965. From there, he founded Chicano TheatreWorks, a company dedicated to producing original and devised work, along with bilingual translations and adaptations of plays by Latin American dramatists. He’s also served as Artistic Associate of The Group Theatre (Seattle) and as Interim Artistic Director of Venture Theatre (Philadelphia).
He has continued to build upon his experience throughout his career, training with SITI Company Summer Intensive at Skidmore College, the Maria Irene Fornes Institute, La Mama Umbria International Symposium, NALAC Leadership Institute, Mabou Mines Resident Artist Program, Cornerstone Theatre Company Summer Institute, and Anti-Racism workshops with Equity Quotient and artEquity – all while working as a freelance director, playwright, and dramaturg.
He is one of the co-founders of the Latinx Theatre Commons and serves on the board for the New Harmony Project. He is the recipient of the Sir John Gielgud Fellowship in Classical Directing, the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors, and a Usual Suspect of New York Theater Workshop. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers and the Dramatists Guild.
Tlaloc has previously taught at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama where he was a President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Iowa, Arcadia University, and Bryn Mawr College. He also teaches at the University of Connecticut. He holds a BA (w/Honors) from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MFA from the University of Washington School of Drama.
