Dear Justin Trudeau, Trinidad Carnival is only four months away, and there are more than a few people who think you should go.
This because a YouTube video of Canada's prime minister-designate dancing has been making the rounds on social media, fresh on the heels of another where Trudeau is seen moving to bhangra. But we should say that in this particular clip, he isn't just dancing; he's palancing.
"Palance" is the name of the soca song Trudeau is seen dancing to in the 2014 video filmed at Regina's Mosaic A Festival of Cultures, a cultural festival with several country pavillions.
The song has a dance that goes with it, where one dances on one leg to one side while kicking the other leg out and waving arms, then to the other side, repeating the same movements between "wining down" and "jumpin' up," as Trinis say. It's a whole lot of fun but takes a little rhythm and a little coordination.
Watch the palancing video below:
Trudeau's got both rhythm and coordination in the video and is shown doing a pretty respectable palance, waving a Trinidad and Tobago flag in time to the music and following the lead of the much younger dancers.
The performance has won the 43 year-old leader of the Liberals his fair share of compliments from Canadians and Trinidadians on social media:
"Somebody, anybody give that man a costume for carnival 2K16," said Lisa La Croix on Facebook.
"Honestly love this. It feels great to have a PM who can relate to everyday people, who isn't afraid to be human and have fun. It's so refreshing to see some flavour in Canadian politics," said Samantha Medina, also on Facebook.
Of course, others were more cautious with their praise:
"Well, let's see how he can help Canada before we all start toting are (sic) horns," Peter St.martin said on Facebook.
But the way to a Trini's heart is arguably through food, dance and a proper party, so this image pretty much summed up the general response to the video:
Red Solo, if you've never had one, is a Trinidadian soft drink. And a roti, well, is a culinary delight not to be missed. Will we see Trudeau chipping down the road at next year's Caribana, like Jason Kenney or Rob Ford? Only time will tell, but he appears to already have the moves down.
Also on HuffPost
