'Raymonda' variations with Noella Pontois (1983) 

artdecochicgirl2 I don't see why Raymonda shouldn't smile in this variation. No dungeon dominatrix for me either, which is why I'm not crazy about renditions by such dancers as Guillem and Gillot. Extremes should be avoided, whether it's too coarse or too bland. Also, the clapping of hands (and yes, they are a part of this solo in every production!) isn't the only way of showing folkloric flavour; for example, very few ballerinas get the characteristic head movements right. They aren't even part of the Nureyev version! I love Kolpakova and Komleva in this also, but theirs is still a very different take from this one and, to a lesser degree, of the older stagings by Gorsky and Balanchine: more delicate and less voluptuous.

And then there's Makarova, who sort of falls in between: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pgkZAwINvFs.html -- I like this one: refined but also energetic when the music asks for it. Makarova said of this variation that you had to add "a little paprika" to it.

artdecochicgirl2 I think that's just Makarova's way of feeling the music, though -- a more lyrical take, I guess. She did excell in the lyric-dramatic register rather than the severely classical (Aurora) or the soubrette.

There are two Raymonda on Y Tube : Nathalia Bessmertnova Bolchoi 1989 - Noella Pontois Paris-Opera 1983

she is rather tiny

@@pediatrapaola M Barychnikov it's tiny ?