poole had returned to south africa several times over the years to stage works for the university of cape town ballet. on his first visit, in 1952, he mounted ashton's "les rendezvous", cranko's "sea change", and a version of the final act of "the nutcracker", set in the kingdom of the sweets. in 1957, he staged ashton's "les patineurs" and cranko's "beauty and the beast," in which he partnered patricia miller, another south african who had trained and danced in london. he also produced his own version of "the firebird," set to the stravinsky score. for the union festival in may 1960 he staged two one-act works by south african choreographers: "blood wedding" by rodrigues and "pineapple poll" by cranko. in 1961, he mounted a full, three-act version of "sylvia", to the score by delibes, a spectacular work that was later, in 1963, produced in johannesburg.