written by Sam Ainley-Zoll, 12 years old I remember the first year I auditioned for Ron Cunningham’s, “The Nutcracker.” There were a lot of kids outside of the Sacramento Ballet studio. I didn’t know at the time that almost 500 children would receive roles to dance and perform in one of Sacramento’s greatest Christmas traditions. That day, I auditioned to be one of Mother Ginger’s Children. I was 7 years old and remember entering the building filled with people. I thought about how my mom told me that I had to be well-behaved to be chosen by Mr. Cunningham. I remember a nice lady measured how tall I was. I hoped I was the right height. For what? I didn’t know. I didn t know if I should