In 1926, Alexander Calder wasn’t yet making his first fully abstract compositions, but he had begun to imagine that sculpture could be a form of performance. Using wire, cloth, cork, and wood, he fashioned these humble materials into a miniature circus of more than 70 performers—acrobats, animals, ringmasters, and tiny props. He “drew in space” with wire and devised strings, levers, and pulleys to set his creations in motion. Hard to believe it’s been a century since then. To mark the centennial of Calder’s Circus, the Whitney is presenting it in dialogue with his early work and later abstract experiments. —Elena Clavarino