Sia’s “Chandelier” video features dancer Maddie Ziegler as its central performer.
Ziegler appears in a blond wig and performs an intense contemporary dance routine inside a sparsely furnished house. Her facial expressions, abrupt movements, and acrobatic gestures became central to the video’s identity and helped make it one of the most discussed music videos of the 2010s.
Sia co-directed the video with Daniel Askill. Rather than appearing prominently herself, Sia used the child dancer as the visual focus, a choice consistent with her preference for limiting her own on-camera presence during this period.
The video is sometimes described as a dance film rather than a conventional performance clip because it follows one uninterrupted central figure. “Chandelier” was released in 2014 and became Sia’s international breakthrough as a solo recording artist.