Sia Kate Isobelle Furler, artistic name Sia, is an Australian singer who has recently enjoyed great success. The music video for the song Chandelier, released in 2014, has reached almost two billion views on YouTube, although she had already released four music albums before this worldwide recognition.
A lesser-known Sia song, Soon We'll Be Found, has a music video in which Sia herself performs the song in American Sign Language (ASL).
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| Sia's characteristic wig on the cover of a record (photo: Sia) |
The music video was released in 2008 and updated in 2009. While it has not achieved the success of Chandelier, already has on YouTube the not inconsiderable amount of 80 million views, certainly helped by the recent success of the singer. Why did Sia use Sign Language in the video? Sia herself stated:
I’ve always been obsessed with the beauty of Sign Language. ... The movement and expression appears as a dance — a beautiful, emotive dance. But the real beauty is the communication hidden within these perfect shapes.Some sources suggest that Sia also used Sign Language because this song is about an ex-boyfriend who is deaf and wanted her to understand what she was saying. This is the video:
Anyway, Sia's sensitivity to dance, Sign Language and other forms of plastic expression is obvious. In the following video, hands and gestures are the absolute stars:
Recently Sia performed live on a very famous TV show in the United States, Saturday Night Live, in which she was again accompanied by an American Sign Language interpreter characterized as a mime:
Sources:
- McQuiston (2008, september, 27). New video for 'Soon We'll Be Found' created in sign language. In Neufutur Magazine. Retrieved from http://neufutur.com/2008/09/new-sia-video-for-%E2%80%9Csoon-we%E2%80%99ll-be-found%E2%80%9D-created-in-sign-language/
- The Huffington Post (2015, January, 20): "Sia's SNL Mime and Sign Language in Pop Music". Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lydia-l-callis/sias-snl-mime-and-sign-la_b_6508970.html
