With flips, twists, and turns of the wrists, senior Elizabeth “Libby” Kelley attempts to manage the devil sticks without dropping them. Having just nailed the Tic Toc after a few tries, she continues trying to keep them in the air. Her exploration is stopped abruptly.

“Stop. What did you just do?” her instructor David Weebs asks.

Libby had no idea what he was talking about. He was astonished by what she had done, but her confusion was obvious, as she didn’t understand what he was so perplexed by.

“You just did an infinity,” he said. “It takes months to learn the infinity. I’ve never seen someone pick that up so fast.”

Libby, a shy girl of seventeen, has one particular passion that drives her. Never feeling quite right or talented in sports, she turned to the one thing she did best: flow arts.

Flow arts is a category of circus acts that pertains to movement and illusions with props and the body.

Having been shown the activity in the eighth grade by her sister and her sister’s friends, she undertook the hobby, taking it much farther than any of them.

“They had LED poi, and I had no idea what I was doing, but they taught me some of the more simple tricks, and I just always loved it,” Libby said. “I was always excited to see them because I knew they would bring it with them, and I would get to learn stuff.”

Now, Libby specializes in certain props used in flow arts. She learns new tricks with these props every day.

Libby primarily hula hoops (a talent that is commonly overlooked) but is also talented with poi and levi wand. Poi is a ball on a cord that is used for object manipulation to dance with or swing around, and they typically glow. A levi wand is a stick attached to invisible string that flow artists use as an optical illusion to move around them.

Each of these props require definite skill and understanding, but for Libby, the ability comes naturally.

“This past weekend she picked up juggling sticks for the first time and nailed the infinity in less than 10 minutes,” sister Traci Kelley said. “Our friend Weebs was helping her, he said, ‘I’ve never seen someone pick that up so fast.’ It’s blowing everyone away how awesome Libby has gotten so quickly, but that she is also versatile in her moves.”

Libby’s mother, Mele Kelley, characterizes Libby in subtle words for her quiet personality.

“Libby is a humble, quiet-natured person with a big heart,” Mrs. Kelley said. “She doesn’t like being center of attention, which I find interesting, considering her sport of choice.”

According to Libby’s mother, Libby used to almost always turn down a challenge, but now, after discovering flow arts, her confidence and willingness to try has increased tremendously.

Libby participates in flow arts not only because she’s good at it, but also because she enjoys doing it.

“It’s fun, it’s exercise, and it’s calming,” Libby said. “Flow toys are sometimes used for meditative reasons. I like that I’m able to physically feel a rhythm with it. It’s visual and physical music, complete with emotion and attitude. Someone’s attitude and emotion will come out in their performance or their ‘flow.’ When I look back at videos of myself, I like being able to see me coming out through it.”

In order to learn and get better, Libby practices at home and with circus performers at Flow Jam in Aerials & Baranis Gymnastics Company.

Flow Jam, according to Traci, is a get-together where people of all ages and ranges of skill in flow arts come to practice together.

According to Libby, the group is very tight-knit, as is the rest of the Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and flow community.

“Flow Jam is just one big family community,” Libby said. “They’re all very friendly. They’re almost all hippies. I’m pretty sure I might be the only one in there that’s not an absolute hippie. That’s the one thing I found specifically about the flow community, they’re all just really happy.”

Forming connections with the members of her group, she easily acquires new tricks and ideas from the flow experts.

Libby has met many older, experienced professionals that partake in teaching her on a weekly basis.

“I was shocked when I found out [Libby] was going every week,” Traci said. “My Libby? My shy 17-year-old Libby goes to hang out and flow with people my age that even I am too intimidated to do so with? She’s like a whole new Libby now, so confident.”

Gaining confidence was difficult to do for Libby. She has had to grow accustomed to learning from her mistakes and getting over the fear of making them in front of people.

“It bothers me that I mess up,” Libby said. “For someone like me who wasn’t used to putting myself out there, messing up in public was difficult for me, but this has helped me get past it.”

Despite her natural talent, Libby has been getting better over the past few months due to her extensive practice. Her passion and love for the sport is apparent, as she explains that “[flow] is basically all I do.”

Libby’s drive and need to learn does not go by unnoticed by her family.

“Every day she is working on new moves, creating new hoops, studying about new equipment, and is constantly becoming more confident in the fluidity of her movements,” Traci said. “Every time I see her or she snapchats me, she has something new to share or a new move to show me.”

By the time she becomes a flow expert, Libby may come to find much more than just tricks and illusions. She might learn valuable life lessons, as she has already begun to do.

“It seems that she will be great at whatever she puts her mind to,” Traci said.