The creator of the Total Mime Method, a physical acting method that awakens the actor's deepest creative force — through the body, the breath, and the invisible that moves us.
Luis Louis
Total Acting for
a Total Presence
Who is Luis Louis?
Luis Louis is a Brazilian actor, director, and master teacher with more than 30 years of experience in physical theater, movement, and actor training. He is the creator of the Total Mime Method — a unique physical and poetic approach that helps performers connect deeply with their presence, breath, and creative truth.
He began his journey studying physical theater under Desmond Jones in London, a master known for his expressive and dynamic approach to mime. Over the years, Louis expanded his research to include Martial Arts, Eastern philosophies, and contemporary performance practices. His method was born from this crossing: a synthesis of rigor, freedom, and poetic expression.
In 2023, his work received international recognition at the New York Theater Festival, where he directed the play When Wajcha Meets Pachamama.
Working with a cast of first-time performers, Luis trained and directed the ensemble using the Total Mime Method, leading the production to win the “Most Creative Production” award — standing out among more than 90 professional shows for its originality, depth, and expressive force.
Beyond the stage, Luis trains actors in television and cinema using the Total Mime Method to cultivate refined body awareness — a foundation that supports emotional depth and powerful presence on screen. His trainings have influenced hundreds of artists in Brazil and abroad, and his school – Escola Luis Louis – has become a reference in physical acting for those who want to become not just interpreters, but creators of their own language.
WHAT IS THE TOTAL MIME METHOD?
Key Aspects:
• Embodied Expression: Training the body to articulate thoughts and emotions, making the invisible visible through movement and presence.
• Integrated Practice: Combining breath, movement, and voice to create a holistic performance approach.
• Creative Autonomy: Encouraging actors to become creators, developing their own expressive language and artistic identity.
• Technical Mastery: Offering a structured progression from silence to speech, incorporating techniques from various mime traditions and physical theater.
Outcomes:
• Enhanced body awareness and control.
• Increased emotional depth and authenticity in performance.
• Development of a personal artistic voice.
• Ability to create and perform original works with confidence.
Emboding the Method
Total Mime is a comprehensive physical acting method developed by Luis Louis, integrating techniques from classical, modern, and contemporary mime with influences from Martial Arts and Eastern philosophies. This method emphasizes the embodiment of thought, emotion, and voice, transforming internal experiences into expressive physical actions.
THE TRANSFORMATION INCLUDES
• Refined body awareness:
Developing a conscious, expressive, and technically skilled body — ready to carry emotion, thought, and story.
• Freedom from mechanical acting:
Letting go of habits, clichés, and rigid forms to find authentic expression rooted in the present moment.
• Emotional depth with physical precision:
Accessing emotions not as something simulated, but as something truly lived — and expressed with clarity through movement.
• Creative autonomy:
Becoming not only an interpreter of texts and characters, but a creator of original work, shaped by your own body, story, and vision.
• Integration of silence, rhythm, and speech:
Understanding the journey of the actor as a dynamic flow — from inner impulse to scenic word, from gesture to meaning.
What transformation does it offer?
The Total Mime Method is not just a training — it's a reawakening of the artist’s full presence. Through a precise yet poetic process, this method guides performers to reclaim their body as their primary creative instrument. It offers a path from silence to speech, from impulse to action, from sensation to scene. Actors who immerse themselves in this training experience a profound shift — in their craft, their process, and their relationship with the audience.
In this method, the body does not illustrate — it reveals.
It does not decorate — it communicates.
It does not repeat — it listens.
Watch the work
Inside the Work - Total Mime in Motion
Explore the essence of the Total Mime Method through these videos. Training, creation, and the poetic body – in action.
Watch more creations, teachings, and inspirations.
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The Artists behind the Work
Luis Louis
Actor, Director, Dramaturge, Founder & Master Teacher
Luis Louis is a Brazilian actor, director, and creator of the Total Mime Method. With over 30 years of experience in physical theater, he blends classical, modern and contemporary mime, martial arts, and Eastern philosophies to awaken full-body expression in performers.
His method has transformed the journeys of hundreds of actors, and in 2023, his direction of When Wajcha Meets Pachamama was awarded “Most Creative Production” at the New York Theater Festival. Luis currently trains actors around the globe for the stage, television, and cinema — always guided by presence, embodiment, and poetry.
Airen Wormhoudt
Actress, Dramaturge & Assistant Teacher
Airen is a Brazilian actress, playwright, and psychologist with over two decades of experience in the performing arts. As the Assistant Teacher of the Total Mime Method, she bridges the poetic depth of Louis’s approach with a unique dramaturgical and psychosomatic sensitivity.
She has worked as a performer and dramaturge in collaboration with diverse artists, and currently serves at Escola Luis Louis, where she helps develop pedagogical content, live trainings, and online programs for students across the globe.
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CONTACT
school@luislouis.com
https://luislouis.com
+55 11 94940-1137
Luis Louis International School of Total Mime | 2025.
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