"I got to sleep with curlers in my hair, wear lipstick, miss school, and be surrounded by real ballerinas."

Tara as Baby Mouse in 1989
with the Christmas Dolls and Ron Cunningham
as Dr. Drosselmeyer

My first Nutctacker was in 1988, which I believe was also Ron Cunningham's first year with Sacramento Ballet. That first year I played a Christmas Doll in the battle scene, and to my 5 year old self, this was the most exciting thing I had ever experienced. I got to sleep with curlers in my hair, wear lipstick, miss school, and be surrounded by real ballerinas. It was my first exposure to ballet, and was the beginning of a lifelong love and appreciation of the art. One of my favorite memories of being a child in Nutcracker was running around from dressing room to dressing room asking the dancers for their old pointe shoes. I had dozens of them in my bedroom, all autographed. I loved them more than any of my toys and would spend hours arranging them on my shelves and trying them on, attempting to dance on pointe. I continued to dance children's roles from 1988- 1996 and it was something that I looked forward to year after year. My favorite role came in 1989 when I played the Baby Mouse. I had dreamed all year of playing this part and was so excited when I actually got it! I loved my costume, and my whiskers and mouse nose were applied with black electrical tape. Part of the role was to shoot a toy gun that sprouted a red flag at a precise second in the music. This seemed like a very important job to me, so I practiced over and over again in my parents living room to a cassette tape. 

Tara Bradley