David Poole (17 September 1925 – 27 August 1991) was a South African ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director. During his thirty-year association with dance companies in Cape Town, he had "a profound effect on ballet in South Africa. He is internationally recognised as a significant figure in the world of dance.
Early life and training
Born in Cape Town, the capital city of the Cape Province, near the southern tip of South Africa, David Poole did not begin his dance training until the age of eighteen, quite late for a dancer with professional aspirations. He trained under Cecily Robinson and Dulcie Howes at the University of Cape Town Ballet School in the early 1940s and soon began performing in the Cape Town Ballet Club, of which Howes was the director and one of the principal choreographers. He appeared to notable effect in her ballets Pliaska (1944), set to music of Liadov, and Fête Galante (1945), to music by Prokofiev. He also danced in early works by the young John Cranko, including The Soldier's Tale (1944), set to the Stravinsky score, and Tritsch-Tratsch (1945), a jolly work set to the high-spirited polka of the same name by Johann Strauss II.
In performances of these works Poole's particular talent was recognised by Howes, who added a special solo for him to her ballet entitled Suite (1936), set to music by Bach, and who recommended him for a bursary for study abroad.
Consequently, Poole moved to London in 1947, when he was 22, and continued his studies at the Sadler's Wells Ballet School. There, under the strong supervision of Ninette de Valois and the administration of Arnold Haskell, he flourished, becoming proficient in classical ballet technique in remarkably short order.
Career in Europe
Soon after beginning his studies in London, Poole was invited to join the Sadler's Wells Theater Ballet, where he was promoted to principal dancer in 1948.
He enjoyed quick recognition by both fans and the press, winning praise particularly for his performances as Pierrot in Fokine's merry romp Le Carnaval and in de Valois's gloomy and ghostly depiction of The Haunted Ballroom. He transferred to the Sadler's Wells Ballet at Covent Garden in 1955, but he left the company (renamed the Royal Ballet) in 1956 to dance with Ballet Rambert, where he appeared in such classic works as Giselle, Coppélia, and Swan Lake. During the first six months of 1957, he took leave from the stage to teach ballet technique at Kurt Jooss's Folkwang Schule in Essen, Germany, after which he returned to Britain and resumed his performing career, appearing with notable success at the Edinburgh Festival in 1958.
During his twelve years dancing in Great Britain, he performed in numerous new works choreographed by de Valois, Cranko, Frederick Ashton, Andrée Howard, Walter Gore, Kenneth MacMillan, and Alfred Rodrigues, among others.
Roles created
Poole created soloist or principal roles in the following works: 1949. Sea Change, choreography by John Cranko; music by Jean Sibelius. Role: The Skipper. 1949. Beauty and the Beast, choreography by John Cranko; music by Maurice Ravel. Role: The Beast. 1951. Pineapple Poll, choreography by John Cranko; music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, arranged by Sir Charles Mackerras. Role: Jasper the Pot Boy. 1953. Blood Wedding, choreography by Alfred Rodrigues; music by Denis ApIvor. Role: Leonardo. 1954. The Lady and the Fool, choreography by John Cranko; music by Giuseppi Verdi, arranged by Sir Charles Mackerras. Role: Prince of Aragonza. 1955. Danses Concertantes, choreography by Kenneth MacMillan; music by Igor Stravinsky. 1955. House of Birds, choreography by Kenneth MacMillan; music by Federico Mompou. 1958. The Night and the Silence, choreography by Walter Gore; music by J.S. Bach, arranged by Sir Charles Mackerras. 1958. The Great Peacock, choreography by Sir Peter Wright; music by Humphrey Searle.