Maurice Mouvet

Mouvet and Walton, 1913

Maurice Oscar Louis Mouvet (March 18, 1889 – May 18, 1927) was an American dancer. Born in New York, he moved to London and Paris as a child. In Paris Mouvet began dancing in cabarets, cafés and restaurants. After learning to waltz he was offered a dancing role in Vienna where he learnt the Viennese waltz. Mouvet was also an early pioneer in dancing the Argentine tango and the Apache. He met Florence Walton whilst dancing in theatre in New York and they married in 1911. They played a key role in popularising the tango and the foxtrot and danced for European royalty. The couple divorced in 1920. Mouvet suffered from tuberculosis and, after collapsing during a performance in 1922, was advised to move to the mountains to alleviate the condition. He continued to dance and married his new dance partner, Elanor Ambrose, in 1926. He died in Switzerland from tuberculosis.