Dancing in the digitalization: a case study on the sociomaterial platformization of creative organizations

Over the last years, basically due to the Covid pandemic and the related acceleration of digitalization of creative processes, cultural organizations have moved to digital platforms from their traditional physical premises. This shift has modified not only the fruition of cultural services by audiences, but also the production of creative content and the organization of artistic work. To explore these issues in an empirical setting, we adopt the theoretical framework of sociomateriality and carry out a qualitative case study on the screendance “1 Meter CLOSER”, performed during the 2020 lockdown by the Italian contemporary dance company, Fondazione Nazionale della Danza Aterballetto. Our findings reveal sociomaterial relationships between three aggregated dimensions (i.e., means of production, practice sites, organizational culture), suggesting that the platformization of performances gave performing arts organizations the opportunity to renew reciprocal adaptation between humans, sites/sights of production and digital means, also contributing to revitalize organizational purpose and identity.