Swing dancing seems far removed from the daily grind of business life but in fact it's just as much about money and value as any other human activity. It's just that its financial system is extremely opaque. There are no clear, universally agreed upon prices or tariffs and often no legal oversight either; it's effectively a black market economy. In this episode, we ask how you survive in a swing dance economy that seems remarkably unregulated and non-transparent, who sets the prices and who pays for everything, what goes into running a successful swing dance business and how to fight off unscrupulous competition. *** Contributors to this episode: Jerry Almonte, dancer, photographer, organiser and blogger based in Washington D.C. www.jsalmonteproductions.com Mandi Gould, Canadian swing dance entrepreneur and organiser www.mandigould.com Jana Grulichová, co-founder of the Swing Maniacs school in Spain www.swingmaniacs.com *** Produced and presented by Alexei Korolyov www.alexei-korolyov.com From the Top theme song by Alexander Forstner, Nina Jukić and Alexei Korolyov