Since the age of two, Maddie Ziegler has had a passion for performance. Raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Maddie's mother Melissa enrolled her and her younger sister, Mackenzie Ziegler, in dance classes at a local studio. A few years later the trio starred in the hit Lifetime reality series 'Dance Moms'. The result of the show's immense popularity led Ziegler to segue into becoming an viral dance sensation, starring in singer-songwriter Sia's music videos for 'Chandelier', 'Elastic Heart', and 'Big Girls Cry', which have collectively amassed more than 1.5 billion views. Maddie has performed these dark contemporary routines on shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003), Saturday Night Live (1975), The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003), and The 57th Annual Grammy Awards (2015). Ziegler has since begun acting on scripted television shows, such as Pretty Little Liars (2010) and Austin & Ally (2011). She makes her major motion picture debut in The Book of Henry (2017), opposite Naomi Watts, Jaeden Lieberher, and Jacob Tremblay.
In the Season Two finale of Dance, the girls auditioned for a Joffery Ballet Scholarship. On the show, Chloe is the only one who receives a full scholarship. In reality, Maddie received a full scholarship to a Joffrey modern dance program; Chloe got a partial scholarship for ballet. She has appeared in the music video for Sia's songs Chandelier, Elastic Heart, and Big Girls Cry, and has performed the dances on various shows, such as Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel, SNL, and perhaps most notably, the Grammys. The music videos have been viewed over 2 billion times on YouTube. Maddie was honored at the 2016 Industry Dance Awards by being presented with the Breakthrough Performer Award. This prestigious award is given to one outstanding performer by choreographers and other professionals in the industry. Mackenzie, Maddie's sister, presented the award to her during the ceremony.
