BIO

Emmy nominated choreographer, international world champion and consummate professional, Louis has devoted his life towards perfecting his craft. Louis first began his Dancesport career, training in a theatre school where he gained a background in ballet, tap, and jazz while simultaneously engaging in rigorous competitions. Upon graduating, Louis attended the University of the Arts in Amsterdam to enhance his skills in the classical dances and theory.

Training under life-long dance/acting coach, friend and mentor Dr. Ruud Vermeij, Louis is a student of Laban choreology, and is well versed in human movement dynamics.

During his competitive ballroom Dancesport career, Louis has amassed a staggering number of accolades including:

• 7 Time Dutch National Amateur Champion
  
• European Amateur Latin Champion (’95)
  
• World Amateur Latin Champion (’94, ’95)
  
• Grand Slam Professional Latin Champion (’95)
  
• World Professional Showdance Champion (’96)
  
• Professional World Latin Finalist (’96)
  

Upon immigrating to the United States, Louis became the U.S. National Latin Champion in 2000 and founded VanDance, LLC. Through VanDance, Louis created Latin Fusion; a feature production on Broadway at City Center in New York City. The success of Latin Fusion was quickly followed up with a second creative effort in 2004, Latin Revolution. In 2008, VanDance was re-envisioned as Visionworx Dance Theater, Inc. Under this new company, Louis plans to continue his innovative efforts to advance the art of ballroom dance on the performing stage.

Louis is constantly sought out for independent performances and maintains a busy instructional calendar. Louis has coached master classes for championship competitors and has served as a creative consultant to ice dance couples.

Louis has been in the world of Dancesport for nearly two decades now. During that time, Louis has made numerous television appearances such as winning the National Talent competition in 1992 and 1993 which was televised on channel RTL4 in Europe. Louis has also recently appeared in guest roles on several hit TV shows most notably The Suite Life With Zack and Cody (Alexander the Great) and All My Children (Himself).

Most prominently, Louis has been featured prominently in seasons 1-3 and 6 of Dancing with the Stars; a show that has that has become a pop culture phenomenon in both the US and abroad. Louis has also choreographed many of the group performances seen throughout all 7 seasons of Dancing with the Stars. His success on the show, has led Louis to serve as creative director, choreographer, and performer in the Dancing with the Stars Touring Show which has performed in cities across the US and Canada.

Louis is also a highly sought after for independent projects and has worked with numerous clientele including Royal Caribbean and most recently, Sabrina Bryan’s choreography for the Cheetah Girls World Tour as well as a segment for the hit TV sitcom Hanna Montana.

Constantly active, Louis is currently engaged in several concurrent projects including promoting physical fitness through dance and dance instruction. His many classes in the Los Angeles area have been immensely successful and cater to a wide range of clientele. Louis has also simultaneously launched a line of instructional and fitness dance DVDs to enhance the learning experience. The latest release will be the creation of the Dance Body Beautiful series starring Lisa Rinna and distributed by Warner Home Video.

To this day, Louis continues to feed off the passion for his craft and remains one of the prominent revolutionary proponents in the art of Dancesport, the performing arts, and pop culture today.