PM does the cabinet shuffle as she joins in dance with guides and scouts in Nairobi

To be obliged as prime minister to show off your excruciatingly awkward dance moves once during a foreign trip could be seen as unfortunate. To go through it twice could be seen as the hosts having a laugh at your expense.

Two days after Theresa May showed off her stiff shuffle at a secondary school in South Africa, she has been compelled into rhythmic action again, this time in Kenya, during the final leg of her Africa visit.

A visit to the UN campus in Nairobi to help Erik Solheim, the head of UN Environment, launch a new “plastic challenge” badge for guides and scouts, might have initially seemed a safely dance-free engagement.

But the scouts had other ideas. As May and Solheim were led out of a building, the scouts with them began dancing to the jaunty music that was playing.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Theresa May after trying her hand at some bowling. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

May, realising there was no way out, joined in. First came some tentative footsteps, then a full-blown attempt to copy the moves, culminating in a cross between a standing-up front crawl and a desperate attempt to hail a cab.

The routine seems set to reinforce the prime minister’s reputation as an awkward if energetic dancer, with newspapers already having printed guides on how to mimic her South Africa routine, plus the inevitable talk of an invitation to appear on Strictly Come Dancing.

Back on safer ground, May was then given a demonstration on ways plastics can be reused, such as by making toys and clothes out of bags and bottles.

Among the recycled products was a ball, and May was compelled to roll it at some plastic bottles, being used as bowling pins. At least here she save some face, knocking them all down for a strike.