While the music video for Sia's single, "Alive," features the martial arts talents of Mahiro Takano, for her performance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the "Chandelier" artist turned to an old friend -- Maddie Ziegler.
It looked as though Sia had perhaps moved on from her partnership with Ziegler, who was featured in most of the live performances and music videos in promotion of 1000 Forms Of Fear. Now, that Sia has a new album on the horizon, This Is Acting, it seemed like she might start to go a slightly different direction, given that Ziegler has not once been featured yet on the artistic promotion of the new record, according to Stereogum.
Thankfully for fans of the young dancer, this is not totally the case. Ziegler returned to Ellen's stage, for which she has performed "Chandelier" and "Elastic Heart" in the past, donning a black dress and performing her extraordinary, contemporary dance style. Her wig matched that of Sia's black and white headpiece adorning her album cover, and Ziegler's simple black dress was the same as the mammoth one draping over Sia's face and body, exposing only the singer's feet and calves.
During the performance itself, Ziegler breaks fake glass, chokes herself and points out a window as the camera pans back and forth exposing new angles to the set. During the climax of "Alive," as Sia wails away at those cracking high notes, the beat cuts away as Ziegler executes a number of flips and cartwheels only to land perfectly on the drop of the song, which has to be one of the most cinematically choreographed moves the duo have performed yet.
Watch the full performance below.
In a follow-up interview, Ellen talked with her friend about the artistic choice to hide her face, promising an on-screen reveal. She may have taken it off in the cable showing, but online viewers will not get to see the reveal. However, it's pretty easy to find online if you do a simple Google search. Watch the interview below.
