Dancing in the street - Indonesia's Joko does the poco-poco

Indonesia President Joko Widodo stands beside Vice President Yusuf Kalla during a dance called 'poco-poco' at the National Monument in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 5, 2018. Antara Foto/Aprilio Akbar via REUTERS

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo joined tens of thousands of people doing the poco-poco on the streets of Jakarta on Sunday to celebrate the upcoming 2018 Asian Games and hopefully break a record.

The dancers want to get themselves a Guinness World Record for the longest such line dance and were joined, not quite as freely, by about 120,000 prisoners doing the same moves in more than 500 prisons around the country.

Aerial view of thousands of Indonesians standing during a dance called 'poco-poco' at the National Monument in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 5, 2018. Antara Foto/Akbar Nugroho Gumay via REUTERS

"Indonesia will be recognised by the world with our poco-poco," said participant Mila Hardjo. "This is the common goal of all Indonesians."

The performance was arranged by the Asian Games Organizing Committee ahead of the competition, which will be hosted in Jakarta and Palembang from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2.

"We, the younger generation of Indonesia, should strongly support and participate (in the games) because we may have to wait for a few years before Indonesia gets to host them again," volunteer dancer Laras Handaningrum told Reuters.

Aerial view of thousands of Indonesians standing during a dance called 'poco-poco' at the National Monument in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 5, 2018. Antara Foto/Akbar Nugroho Gumay via REUTERS -

(Reporting by Fanny Potkin; Editing by Nick Macfie)