Ruth Hanson

Ruth was of Danish descent, the daughter of merchant Hannes Snæbjörnsson Hanson and Gerda Hanson.^[2] She studied dance and gymnastics in Denmark before returning to Iceland in 1926. Shortly later she opened a dance school where she taught modern dance. She was a known swimmer and in 1927 she became the first woman, and the third person overall, to swim the Engeyjarsund, a swim route from Engey to Reykjavík.^[2]

In 1927, she hired Loftur Guðmundsson, a well known photographer and filmmaker in Iceland, to assist her in making a dancing film where she performed Flat-Charleston with her 14-year-old sister, Rigmor S. Hanson. The film was shown in theaters in December 1927.^[1][3][4]

In 1929, Ruth married a Scot and moved to Scotland.^[1]