APPS

UTOPIC APPS · Formations

Plan your group’s dance formations

Place your people on stage, build formations like slides and watch them move, counted in beats. Free, in your browser.

Try Formations free How it works
Formations: eight dancers on the grid stage with their paths, the formation strip below and the panels on the right

Sound familiar?

  • You sketch the formations on paper and at rehearsal nobody knows where to go.
  • The transition is too short and people reach the 1 late.
  • You explain in the group chat who’s in front and who’s behind, and it just doesn’t land.

Formations puts it all on one screen: the grid stage, your dancers by name and each formation with its beats and its transition. Hit Play and see who goes where, counted in eights.

How to plan your formations in 3 steps

  1. Formations’ Stage panel: 10 columns, 8 rows, 1 m squares and where the audience is

    Create the show

    Name it, paste your list of dancers and set up the stage: columns, rows and how big each square is.

  2. Formations on a phone: the Play and PDF buttons and eight dancers in a V with their paths on stage

    Place people and add formations

    Move each dancer, or several at once, and add formations like slides, each with its beats and its transition.

  3. Play mid-transition: dancers halfway there and the counter showing the transition, the eight and the count

    Hit Play and get the PDF

    Watch it animated and counted with a My Base beat, and share the PDF with the group for rehearsal.

Full Formations guide

For your showcase, competition or recital

Dance formation ideas for 5 to 12 dancers

A starting point to try out on stage. Two rules that almost always work: nobody gets hidden (with two lines, the back line stands in the gaps of the front one, “windows”) and every change can be done within the transition’s beats.

  • 5 dancers

    • Arrow: 1 in front and two rows of 2 behind
    • Windows: 3 at the back and 2 in front, in the gaps
    • A diagonal of 5 across the stage

  • 6 dancers

    • Two lines of 3 in windows
    • Triangle 1-2-3 pointing at the audience
    • Two groups of 3 on each side, for call and response

  • 7 dancers

    • Arrow 1-2-4
    • V of 7: the point in front and 3 on each arm
    • Semicircle open to the audience with a soloist in the middle

  • 8 dancers

    • Two lines of 4 and, with two colours, a canon line by line
    • V of 8: two arms of 4
    • Circle facing the centre to finish

  • 10 dancers

    • Pyramid 1-2-3-4
    • Two lines of 5 in windows
    • A 5 × 2 block that opens into two diagonals

  • 12 dancers

    • Three lines of 4 in windows
    • A 4 × 3 block for unison sections
    • Two groups of 6 mirroring each other
The Formations PDF of an 8-dancer showcase: the entrance in a line, a V, two lines in canon and a circle, with their beats and notes
An 8-dancer showcase in the Formations PDF: entrance in a line, V, two lines in canon (in two colours) and circle.

With Pro, the shapes (line, two lines, V, inverted V, diagonal, circle, semicircle, block and wedge) place the selected dancers in one tap. On Free, snap to grid helps you place them by hand.

Dance formations counted in beats, no pen and paper

Free and Pro

Free

With your free account

  • 3 shows of up to 20 dancers
  • Focus and colour per dancer and formation
  • Formations with beats and transitions
  • Paths and offstage area
  • Counted Play or with your My Base beats
  • PDF for rehearsal

Pro

No limits

  • Unlimited shows and dancers
  • One-tap shapes: line, V, circle, block…
  • Entrances and exits
  • Change where the audience is
  • Your own song, with the tempo tapped in
  • 3D view with three cameras

The first time, you can try Formations without signing up. To save your shows and get the PDF, create your free account: when you do, you can try Pro free for 14 days.

See the plans

FAQ

How do I plan formations for a group dance?

With Formations, in your browser: create the show, paste your list of dancers and set up the stage (columns, rows and how big each square is). Place everyone, add the next formation like a slide and give it its beats and its transition. Hit Play to watch the group move, counted in eights.

What formations work for 6, 7 or 10 dancers?

It depends on the routine, but some classics work: with 6, two lines of 3 in windows or a 1-2-3 triangle; with 7, a 1-2-4 arrow or a V; with 10, a 1-2-3-4 pyramid or two lines of 5 in windows. You’ll find ideas for 5 to 12 above, and in Formations you can try them on stage before rehearsal.

How long does each formation and transition last?

You decide, in beats: each formation lasts 1 to 256 and the transition, the time people take to get there from the previous one, 0 to 64. If you count in eights, 16 beats are two eights. The tempo goes from 50 to 200 BPM.

Can I see how the group gets from one formation to the next?

Yes. With Play, Formations animates each transition and counts it: at the top you see the formation, the eight and the count. Paths show where each dancer comes from and where they go, so you spot in time who crosses whom.

Can I add music?

Yes: one of the beats you’ve saved in My Base, which plays in full at the show’s tempo. With Pro, also your own song: upload it and tap the tempo 8 times along with it. Without music, Play is counted in silence.

Can I show which way each dancer faces?

Yes: with Focus, a rose of 8 arrows, you choose which way each dancer faces (right and left are the dancer’s own). And with colour you mark canons, groups or who does what, in one formation or in all of them at once.

What about dancers who aren’t on stage?

Leave them in the offstage area, the strip around the stage: in the transition they walk on or off from there. With Pro, you can also mark the stage’s entrances and exits where they are.

How do I share the formations with the group?

With the PDF: one page per formation with its name, the beats, the transition, the stage with everyone’s name and the note for the group. Save it from the print dialog and send it or print it for rehearsal. You need your free account to get it.

Can I see it from the dancers’ side?

Yes: Flip view turns the stage 180° so you see it the way the dancers do, with the audience at the top. Handy for explaining it to the group face to face. With Pro, you can also put the audience at the front, at the back or on either side.

Is it free?

Yes. Your free account gives you 3 shows of up to 20 dancers, with focus, colours, paths, Play with your My Base beats and the PDF. Pro has no limit on shows or dancers and adds one-tap shapes, entrances and exits, your own song and the 3D view. The first time, you can try it without signing up.

Does it work on my phone? Where are my shows saved?

It works in your phone or computer browser, with nothing to install. Your shows are saved to your account, so you have them on any device.

Your next show, one formation at a time

Try it with your group. The first time, no sign-up needed; to save your shows and get the PDF, create your free account.

Try Formations free Full Formations guide