Maddie Ziegler Learned the ‘Chandelier’ Choreography at Warp Speed

Maddie Ziegler is known for quite a few things. Most recently, she’s been making a name for herself as an actor by starring in films like The Fallout and West Side Story. Of course, long-time fans of the 20-year-old will recall that she got her start on the popular reality TV series, Dance Moms. But the muli-hyphenate creative’s most high-profile gig to date has been her performance in Sia’s music videos. More specifically, her performance of the choreography in the Chandelier music video made Ziegler a household name.

Chandelier singer Sia and Maddie Ziegler perform music and choreography on stage — Sia and Maddie Ziegler | Dave Simpson/WireImage

How did Maddie Ziegler end up in Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ music video?

Ziegler was only 11 when Sia tapped her to be in the Chandelier music video. The Aussie was a fan of Dance Moms and found herself moved whenever Ziegler would perform her solo choreography on the show. Thus, she reached out to Ziegler and her mom on Twitter to be in her music video. While Ziegler was excited by the prospect of working on a professional dance job, she didn’t expect anything to come from it.

The dancer learned the choreography at warp speed

Once Zielger got to set, she began learning the intricate Chandelier choreography. Those who have watched the video (which has racked up 2.5 billion views since it debuted in 2014) know that the dancer performed everything from a front aerial to a split, to playing in curtains.

But even the complex moments were no match for Ziegler. In a 2015 interview with USA Today, she revealed that she learned the choreography for the music video in no time at all. “They gave me three days to learn Chandelier,” Ziegler explained. “I don’t need that long. I learned it in three hours.” After just three hours, the Bloody Hell star was able to execute the dance so well that she move Sia to tears.

Ziegler had years of experience picking up choreography quickly because of ‘Dance Moms’

Of course, Dance Moms fans won’t be surprised to hear just how quickly Ziegler was able to pick up the Chandelier choreography. As a member of the ALDC Junior Elite Competition Team, Ziegler was tasked with learning at least one brand new dance routine in just a few days, or sometimes hours. Not only was Ziegler typically the lead in the group dance, but she often had a solo and/or duet or trio to learn each week as well. That coupled with Zielger’s innate musicality meant that picking up new choreography was a cinch.

But even though Ziegler enjoyed working on the video, she never expected it to go viral. At 11, she had no idea who Sia was and doubted that anyone would ever see Chandelier. In fact, Ziegler didn’t think the opportunity was real when it was first presented to her. “She tweeted me,” Ziegler recalled of booking the gig. “She tweeted that she’s a fan of the show and I should be in her video. I thought it was fake. Who’s Sia? She doesn’t show her face. She doesn’t put herself out there.” Clearly, the opportunity didn’t turn out to be fake. In fact, both Ziegler and (her now godmother) Sia, have referred to the collaboration as life-changing.