VIDEO PREMIERE: Olivia Grace Dances Her Dizzying Emotions in Video for ‘Higher Ground’

May 8, 2019

2:20 pm

story / Catherine Santino

Katy Perry may feel like a plastic bag, but alt-pop songstress Olivia Grace feels like a spinning top. In her brand new music video for her single “Higher Ground”, the LA alt-pop singer personifies disorienting emotion. Her chaotic dance moves, paired with the video’s red color mood, embodies the feeling of being trapped in your own head. “The stars are fading / My hands are shakin’ / I can’t see you now / I don’t see you,” she sings to the electro-pop beat.

All too often, love and anger often go hand in hand, and this tension is a main element of the video (which was filmed, directed, and edited by cinematographer Bia Jurema, alongside choreographer Victoria Pizzo). “I wanted to shoot in a location that felt confined while dancing wildly within that space,” she says of her process. “And then later in the video, you see that I’ve transitioned out of that space, but I’m still wearing all red and carrying the emotions with me.”

Check out the video as well as our interview with Olivia Grace.

What was the inspiration behind this video?

I typically have a lot of visuals going through my mind when I write music, like watching a short film. When I pictured the video for Higher Ground, I imagined myself dancing in a red, claustrophobic-like room. While writing the single, I was experiencing so many different emotions in an overwhelming way. I felt like dancing was the best way to convey those feelings.

What was the experience of working with a choreographer like? Do you have any dance background?

I worked with an amazing choreographer, Victoria Pizzo, and it was so much fun! I did dance classes when I was a child, and I’ve dabbled with different types of dancing as an adult for fun (belly dancing, conga, burlesque, swing, etc), but I definitely wouldn’t say I am a dancer. Victoria was very patient, made the moves easy to learn, and totally hit the mark with the vision for the video. While filming, it was a little more difficult because we had a fog machine intensely going for 4+ hours, while I was repetitively spinning and jumping, ha. Honestly, I took a decent amount of anti-nausea pills to be able to do it, but it was so worth it.

What’s the significance of the color red?

I really liked the mood that the color red created. I like the way it conveys intensity, passion, anger, love, energy, and so forth. I think that’s a huge part of the video. I wanted to shoot in a location that felt confined while dancing wildly within that space. And then later in the video, you see that I’ve transitioned out of that space, but I’m still wearing all red and carrying the emotions with me.