I’m going to continue the trend of non-rock/metal videos this week by featuring Sia‘s smash hit “Chandelier”. The video, which has been viewed nearly 746 million times as of this post, was directed by Sia and Daniel Askill and features the dancing of 12-year old actress Maddie Ziegler.
To say that it’s incredible is an understatement. The video takes place in a grungy, dirty apartment, the walls chipped and worn, a filthy mattress laying on the floor. Ziegler prances throughout the apartment, mixing ballet with jagged, interpretive dance, her movements a representation of her wish to leave her environment, her squalor. Even at the end, when she smiles and curtsies to the “audience”, the smile is completely fake, a mockery of the joy a child should feel. She stands after her final curtsy, alone in this rundown home, blurring away, doomed to be forgotten.