Sardono granted professorship

JAKARTA: Noted choreographer Sardono Waluyo Kusumo will be installed as a professor of dance on Wednesday, making him the first artist with no formal education to receive the academic honor.

During his installation at the Graha Bhakti Budaya Hall in the Ismail Marzuki Arts Center in Central Jakarta on Wednesday evening, Sardono, 58, will share his thoughts on how regional autonomy and political decentralization has led to exclusiveness in the regional arts.

Sardono, who cofounded the Jakarta Arts School, the embryo of the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), has dedicated most of his life to dance, gaining both national and international recognition.

The government granted the title to him through Minister of National Education Decree No. 9601/2003 dated May 31, 2003, although he is not a university graduate.

Sardono is concerned about the environment which has inspired him to create a number of dance performances, one of which will be screened during the ceremony on Wednesday. He will also perform his latest piece titled Nobody's Body.

The event will also be marked by the launch of his book titled: Hanuman, Tarzan and Homo Erectus. -- JP