This article discusses the dynamics of actualization of solidarity and hierarchical relations in contemporary swing dance communities. It shows how these communities are based on a specific solidarity ideology, at least it terms of dealing with processes of their institutionalization, commercialization and establishing of formal dance hierarchies. However, when we take into view the swing dancers themselves, diverse practices of mutuality become evident. In contrast to the formal solidarity discourses and practices, the latter are much more heterogeneous and as such more interesting for anthropological discussion, for they establish solidarity and hierarchical relations apart from wider mobilization movements of the swing dance industry, and many of them implicitly resist institutionalization. The thesis arising from this case study is that the practices of mutuality are not always in complementary relation with discourses of solidarity. On the contrary, they oft en bypass the major solidarity flows and, paradoxically, contribute most efficiently to the actual solidarity of vital parts of the swing communities. The author discusses the subject on the basis of six years of active participation in different Slovene swing dance scenes and occasional presence at international swing dance events in different European cities.
