Sia is a musician who has truly grown into an artist. Over the past few years, she has kept her physical appearance hidden, using numerous costumes to conceal her face. In many of her more recent music videos, she has captured the entity of her inner-self through dancer Maddie Ziegler.
Sia’s collection of videos with Ziegler are incredibly powerful and often an enigma in their set up. Some of Sia’s videos have even been considered inappropriate, with Ziegler dancing in mature scenes at the age of twelve with 30-year-old actor Shia Lebeouf.
Maddie Ziegler dancing in “Elastic Heart” with actor Shia Lebeouf.
In “The Greatest” music video, the viewer is reintroduced to Ziegler wearing a black wig, unique from the blond wig she wears in previous Sia videos. This change in color may suggest the age progression of the Sia entity, or the death of the entity in the video.
The message in this video is powerful. It showcases 49 dancers performing in what appears to depict an aftermath setting of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.
Dancers are covered in soot, Ziegler wears rainbow-paint-covered cheeks, disco balls spin, and bullet holes serve as the subtle reminders of yet another horrific tragedy of human death created by violence and the intolerance of another community.
The choreography of “The Greatest” is mesmerizing. It establishes an expressive style of dance that combines possessed spirit entangled in a pantomime’s movements. It is what makes the video the greatest, in its ability to convey a message solely through expressive dance.
Sia has resurrected not only the spirit of the music video, but the significance of the many lives lost to hatred and violence found in our world today.
Photo Credit for Sia’s music video images:
Stills from Sia’s “The Greatest”: “The Greatest” directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, featuring Maddie Ziegler, and choreographed by Ryan Heffington.
Still from “Chandelier”: ” Chandelier” directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, featuring Maddie Ziegler, Allison Holker.
Still from “Elastic Heart”: ” Elastic Heart” directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, featuring Maddie Ziegler and Shia Lebeouf.
Still from “Big Girls Cry”: “Big Girls Cry” directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, featuring Maddie Ziegler, and choreographed by Ryan Heffington.
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