Sia’s Elastic Heart

Alex Matheson

1/22/2018

Professor Jones

Dance appreciation

Sia’s Elastic Heart

        Sia’s Elastic Heart music video starts out with the man and the young girl standing across from each other in a large cage. They are in a dusty warehouse wearing flesh colored leotards. it seems dreary and there is not much color on the set which gives the video a somber mood. The two characters look disheveled and somewhat crazy. I would classify the genre of music as alternative pop mostly using electrical sounds.

         As the music starts tension builds as they circle the cage. They run up to each other and as she yells at him and he seems to be overcome with fear.  she begins doing ballet spins combined with expressive hand gestures as she reaches for the sky. she yells at him backing him into a corner then her facial expression changes as she grabs her throat like she is choking. They slowly move to the ground, he army craws towards her while she strikes a pose. She chases him and throws him into the cage and then she spins in ballet style. She Continues to beat on him and then jumps on his back.

Although the dancing includes movement which appears to be erratic and unpredictable, they move in a fluid motion that syncs with the music.  Because the actors in the video move in such a unique and unusual way their dancing can be interpreted in any number of ways. At this point in the song the music is building towards the chorus, and building up the emotion involved.

         He climbs the cage while the girl is doing ballerina twirls then falls to the ground. There is a sense of grace in her movement. The guy then jumps down from the cage and lies down next to the girl. She wakes up with a startled look on her face. He reached out his arm in a grand fashion. At first, she embraces his affection but then bites him. they revert back to the hostile environment and passionate dancing. He runs at her jumps in the air while the girl crawls to the other side of the cage. He abruptly turns and does a lot of strange hand gestures in front of his face. He picks her up as she flails kicking her arms and legs. She slides on her back as he follows her on all fours. The child manages to escape the cage leaving the man behind. He reaches out to grab her aggressively but she taunts him with hand gestures. When he is unable to grab her, he screams with intense passion and rage then punches the cage. He collapses into the fetal position clearly emotionally drained. She then goes back into the cage where she does a handstand and puts her legs over his shoulders. He picks her up by the legs then wraps her body around his head. He holds her in his arms and she begins to hit his forehead with a hammer fist. Every time she hits him he makes weird face then she plays with his face.