It turns its back in a curve in elegant way (8)
I believe the answer is:
artistic
'elegant way' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech.
'it turns its back in a curve' is the wordplay.
'turns' is an anagram indicator.
'back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a curve' becomes 'arc' (arc is a kind of curve).
'its' back-to-front is 'sti'.
'it' with letters rearranged gives 'ti'.
'ti'+'sti'='tisti'
'tisti' put into 'arc' is 'ARTISTIC'.
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for artistic that I've seen before include "Aesthetic, creative" , "Creative; ornamental" , "cultivated" , "displaying talent" , "(Musical) work" .)