Sia has just released the final installment in her video trilogy with Maddie Ziegler, the 11-year-old girl who's served as her visual muse for the past year. During her press cycle for 1000 Forms of Fear, Sia decided to subvert the pop music promotion game by removing her own face from the equation, and watching Ziegler stand in for her has been dazzling. Even when the "Elastic Heart" stirred up some controversy, no one could deny the power of Ziegler's performance. Matching Sia's precision and dedication to craft, she's used her acrobatic movements and eerie, people-pleasing smile to dramatize the anxieties that cause Sia to shy from the spotlight.
Though she's wearing the same blonde wig and nude bodysuit, "Big Girls Cry" finds Ziegler packing all of the emotion she's previously portrayed with her body into her face. Cycling between manic grins and despondent grimaces, she claws at her face, yanks at her hair, and sucks her thumb. The technical dance moves she's spent her entire life perfecting are mostly set aside, but her impassioned performance from the shoulders up makes them unnecessary.
