Leaked video of Finland’s Prime minister, Sanna Marin, dancing exuberantly has sparked worldwide debate – and highlighted how political leaders have not been shy about showing off their favourite moves.
Sanna Marin, wir alle kennen es pic.twitter.com/cPIDUzd9U3
— Jon Of Us ☀️ (@JonOfUs) August 18, 2022
The Guardian dance critic Lyndsey Winship casts her eye over their routines and divides the showstoppers from the clodhoppers.
Top 3
1. Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Definition of a superhero: someone who can face down Putin and pull off a fuchsia satin Elvis outfit. Zelenskiy won the first season of Ukraine’s version of Strictly Come Dancing in 2006 with his confident footwork. It is a long way from Ann Widdecombe being dragged along the floor by Anton Du Beke, or even Ed Balls’s inspiringly gung-ho Gangnam Style.
2. Barack Obama
Obama is a man of effortless grace, and that quality is all over his dancing. Less is more (that’s a lesson for all clodhoppers) – he just lets the rhythm creep in and that lovely smile spread over his face and for a moment you can pretend it’s still somewhere back around 2012 and there’s hope in the world.
3. Boris Yeltsin
Yeltsin’s boogie proves that dancing doesn’t have to be “good” to be great.
Bottom 3
1. Theresa May
Let us be clear: there is no such thing as bad dancing if you’re enjoying yourself. But Theresa May’s moves, including this unexpected robot, come with the forced joviality of someone who’s just been pushed on stage by a Spad telling her to “Have fun!”, resulting in the same awkwardness as clutching for a “running through wheat fields” anecdote.
2. Donald Trump
Remember the weirdly addictive clip? Instead of a Trump rally’s usual macho chanting, the ex-president showcased a little move we might call “the Trombone”, enhanced with a camp hip wiggle to the sound of YMCA. All confirming his status as the least self-aware person to ever hold office.
3. Boris Johnson
The arms aloft say “football boor”.
