Graphic Practice and Embodied Knowledge, a Historical Perspective on Lucinda Childs’ Calico Mingling (1973)

On December 7, 1973, Lucinda Childs performed a quartet entitled Calico Minglingat the Whitney Museum of American Art. This piece inaugurates her so-called minimalist works choreographed in the frame of her company. In order to develop and organize the complex path of a group of performers, Childs drew the floor plan of the dance. Composed of semi-circular and straight lines the choreographic phrases are repeated in different orientations in space. The page becomes an experimental space where Childs tested the serial structure of the work playing with the arrangement of floor patterns in the specific architecture of the museum. A compositional chart associated with the score simultaneously leads the performers in the process of memorizing and embodying the movement. During the rehearsal, the score acts as a protocol for the dancers to start dancing with each other. Archived by Childs, Calico Mingling’s creation folder gathers a diversity of documents (cut outs, floor patterns, compositional charts) giving access to the genesis of her work at the junction between dance studio, drawing table, and archival room. Located in the choreographer's loft at 541 Broadway, New-York, for 40 years, this folder--together with her archival collection--has been recently made available for research by the Centre national de la danse in Paris. In this respect Childs’ collection--now located in an archive--challenges the art historian’s ability to describe a situated and embodied graphic practice.