Ruth Mata

Ruth Mata and her husband and partner Eugene Hari were international dance satirists with their own unique style, originating as dancing comedians with a European dance troupe headquartered in Switzerland, where both were born and raised in a Zurich suburb. After four transcontinental tours, the pair remained in the USA when the troupe returned to Europe in 1939. They appeared at La Martinique, the Beachcomber, the Hole Pierre and Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe in New York, the Chez Paree in Chicago, and Ciro's in Hollywood. Their bow on Broadway was made in "The Straw Hat Revue" in a cast which included other then-unknowns: Danny Kaye, Jerome Robbins and Imogene Coca, and they followed this with a long run in the Olson and Johnson stage musical "Laffing Room Only" for extended engagements in New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Detroit. Mata and Hari also entertained on stage at New York's Radio City Music Hall and the Roxy Theatre. In addition to many performances at the National Theatre and in Carnegie Hall (where they performed a famous sketch parodying the audience, the musicians and the conductor), they also presented programs before the International Monetary conference at Bretton Woods and before President 'Harry S Truman' and his guests at a command performance in the East Room of the White House.