Seeing: Piano Girl

I met B. my first day at VCB, the same day she discovered the piano. Her mother told me she had been blind since birth and though she would often sing, she never spoke. I shadowed B’s every move, until she sat down, not knowing what was in front of her. She lightly caressed the piano’s keys. With each stroke, she twisted and turned her head then body, almost in contortions. As the first note rang out, B. squealed with glee. She then pounded the keys, euphoric and oblivious to the cacophony. B. and I sat at the piano for hours. It felt like a choreographed dance. She played. I shot. Her mother said she had never seen her so happy.