Neon lights dazzled both long-time Photon members and newcomers through the darkness in Borden Gymnasium this Saturday night, where Photon held their annual Flow Arts event Flow Fest. Unlike the usual performance-based events on campus, Flow Fest was catered towards new learners of Flow Arts, offering them a space to learn how to spin props like pois or Chinese yoyos for the first time.
This year, the Flowfest included light up pois, clubs, and rope darts, with veteran club members available to teach first-timers basic Flow Arts. Co-Head Cindy Yang ’26 highlighted how flow arts is a skill that varies in difficulty, enabling newcomers to learn easy skills that still produce vibrant choreography.
“People think it’s really hard, and it can be hard, but it’s actually pretty beginner-friendly. Photon works really hard to be as welcome and open to anyone to join in. And especially in our routines, we always welcome beginners in our routines. So, flow arts is something that’s really easy to just get started with,” said Yang
Bella Huang ‘28 felt this openness and welcoming atmosphere at Flow Fest, as she tried Flow Arts for the first time.
“People were very patient with me when trying to teach [flow arts] to me. It was fun. I made circles with lightning bolts. The people were all very engaged as well” said Huang.
Both organizers and attendees of the event believed Borden was the ideal location to host the event, but Co-Heads of the club found communication with adults on campus was difficult when trying to book the space.
“Communication with the adults was a little bit challenging because when we email asking for permission to book Borden, we were kind of just left in the air until they responded and so it was like, ‘okay we have to do this because it’s an annual event, but are we gonna be able to do this? Are we not gonna be able to?’” said Lee
Despite these challenges, Borden ended up being a great space to host the event in, allowing learners to try the props more fully, according to Lee.
“My freshman year [Photon] held it in Underwood, and I think it’s a big difference because here we have a lot more room so it’s easier for people to actually try out the props, learn how to spin, and actually do flow arts, whereas, in Underwood, It was more just getting introduced to what the prop is and seeing the more experienced club members perform tricks.”
