For Panorama, Calder designed moving sculptures meant to be fully integrated into the dance. The mobile used in the first movement, “Theme of Dedication,” consisted of four white and red-and-white striped disks and a small red ball, suspended from the ends of long rods. Ruth Lloyd, wife of composer Norman Lloyd, recalled how Calder intended the mobile to function: “Calder had devised two mobiles for the dance. The first was a set of primary-colored discs, suspended from pulleys. Each disc was attached to the wrist of one of the five dancers. The effect was stunning, with the dipping and rising space patterns of the discs counterpointing the slow-moving, earth-bound movement of the dancers.”50 By linking the dancers to his mobiles, Calder created sets or props that augmented and participated in the choreography of the dancers. The mobiles’ possibilities fascinated Martha Graham, and one of her dancers recalled that “Martha became so involved with the mobiles that she never got her piece finished.”51
We had no place to rehearse [with the mobiles] so we rigged them up in the open field, stretched ropes from tree to tree, and learned to manipulate them to give the illusion of the world of fantasy that Sandy wanted and which enchanted me. The field bordered a public highway and by the loud blowing horns we became aware that we had stopped traffic and In 1976 Graham reminiscence about her first experience working with Calder: