La Primera Salsera

Daria. My friend and teacher from Bulgaria. We met on Craigslist...in the Services section. She teaches private salsa lessons and I came back from Guatemala last summer with an itch to keep learning Latin dance. I quickly learned the difference between "On1" and "On2" and, um, chose the Nuyorican brand. Many professional dancers can do both, but the rest of us probably need to pick one--at least when we're learning. Within a few weeks, Daria and I were meeting for tea in my kitchen and I was helping her with her pronunciation--she speaks English beautifully but is a royal perfectionist. Now she is the one I go out dancing with, though I decided to take classes in my neighborhood.