Dame is one of the moves that, when you dance Cuban salsa in “rueda de casino”, in a circle, can be called out – like figure names, partner changes or styling – by a “madre” (mother), often a teacher during a salsa class at a dance school.
There are several ways to change partners in rueda, but one name that comes up often in the calls is the famous: dame.
What does Dame mean? What are the different types of this move?
The meaning of Dame in salsa
Literally, “dame” means “give me” in Spanish – as in, give me the next dancer or follower. When the madre calls “dame” in rueda, it means there is a change of partner: the man goes to get the next partner and the woman welcomes, or is picked up by, the next partner.
The da-me can be called after a figure, for example “enchufla y dame”, meaning enchufla then a change of partner, without going through the closed position that usually follows an enchufla, which takes you from an open position to a closed position.
So it indicates a change of partner to the next one. Later in this article we will see that it is in fact possible to dame with more than just the next partner.
Practise with a great salsa music playlist:
The different kinds of dame in Cuban salsa
There are different calls for this partner change in Cuban salsa or Cuban casino, in rueda.
As we saw earlier, it can come after a move is called, for example enchufla y dame.
While a simple “da me” means going to get the next partner, it is also possible to “dame” with a partner after the next one, and even further along.
Indeed, the call can be “dame dos” (give me the second one), where the man or leader doesn’t go to the partner right after the one he was dancing with, but the one after that. He skips the next one and picks up the second. For information, “dame dos” is also called “bikini”.
In the same spirit, and to spice up rueda games, the madre can call for example:
- Dame dos
- Dame tres (the man goes to get the third woman)
- Dame cuatro
- Dame la que viene (give me the one who’s coming, in a specific rueda game)
- Etc.
“Dame dos con dos” means doing a “dame dos” – the man goes to get the second dancer – and adding two hand claps (con dos).
Other fun dame games are possible, as shown in this patchwork video of different partner changes (starting at 21 seconds):
How to do a nice dame
In short: on the enchufla, raise your right arm high to let your partner through (all together, it looks even better), and on count 5 put your right foot forward rather than back: you save time and arrive without rushing.
At Latin dance schools, the “da me” is generally not taught with much style. For an “enchufla y dame”, the man often has his arms dangling and just changes partner.
A little styling tip is to do the enchufla or enchufla doble (double enchufla) with the man raising his right arm high to let his partner through, then changing partner.
Visually it looks better, individually and as a group if everyone raises their arm the same way.
Also, as far as footwork goes, ban the “cubana back step” or step backwards, which will make you lose time. Keep your alternation (for the man) and on count 5, put your right foot forward, not back. You save time, keep walking (Cuban salsa is walking) and reach your destination effortlessly.
This is even more true if you do a “dame dos”, “dame tres”, etc., because you then have an even longer distance to cover, so go forward on your count 5 (right foot).
