Ruth A. Sobotka (September 4, 1925 – June 17, 1967) was an Austrian-born American dancer, costume designer, art director, painter, and actress.
She appeared in many Balanchine ballets including The Four Temperaments (1946); Serenade, Apollo, Symphony in C (1946); Swan Lake (pas de quatre) (1951); Concerto Barocco, The Nutcracker (1954); Ivesiana (1954); Agon (1957); and The Figure in the Carpet (1961).
Sobotka also danced in James Waring's company and for major American choreographers and designed costumes for works by Paul Taylor, Erick Hawkins, and John Taras.
A young Sobotka appeared as "The Girl" in Man Ray's segment "Ruth, Roses and Revolvers" in the avant-garde film by Hans Richter, Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947).
[4] After her resignation from the New York City Ballet in 1961, Sobotka choreographed for the American Shakespeare Festival in Stamford, Connecticut and studied acting under Herbert Berghof, Uta Hagen and later Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.