Birmingham, UK (CNN) Theresa May isn't much of a dancer. So the British Prime Minister's decision to sway onto stage at her party's annual gathering, accompanied by a blast of ABBA's "Dancing Queen," was a brave attempt to shrug (and shuffle and swivel) off memories of a disastrous speech last year.

To rapturous applause at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, England, she twirled somewhat awkwardly into the auditorium -- a self-deprecatory reference to dance moves she displayed on a recent visit to Africa.

The dance moves were part of an opening sequence in which she sought to dispel memories of a poor speech at the same event last year, when she was plagued by a cough, a prankster, and the signage falling from the stage behind her.

"You'll have to excuse me if I cough during this speech. I've been up all night supergluing the backdrop," joked May.

Prime Minister Theresa May dances on stage to ABBA's Dancing Queen as she prepares to give her speech to the Conservative Party conference



Watch live: https://t.co/UdYThWRiJQ#CPC18 pic.twitter.com/AglmVE8Q5R — ITV News (@itvnews) October 3, 2018

The idea of dancing into the conference hall came from May herself, a source close to the Prime Minister told CNN.

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