formations
A formation (I’m taking this term from The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society) is the interaction of two or more canoes in a single coherent move. Thus, a single canoe might perform a pivot (figure 1), which is a manoeuvre; two canoes performing simultaneous pivots so that they interlock are performing an interlocking pivot, which is a formation (figure 2).

There are thousands of possible formations, most of them of no interest whatever. I’ve created animations of some that appealed to me and categorised them into:

You can build on formations in two ways: you can string them together over time into a routine or dance; or you can combine formations concurrently to create complex formations (figures 3 & 4).

Click any figure to see an animation.

figure 1 a manoeuvre: the pivot

figure 2 a formation: interlocking pivots

figure 3 a formation: parallel pinwheels

figure 4 a complex formation: interlocking parallel pinwheels