infonet-economy

Purpose - Presenting empirical findings from an ethnography on the making of contemporary dance and movement theatre, this paper aims to deepen our understanding of organizational creativity as practice driven by the nexus of idea generation and evaluation. From a practice-based perspective situated in a sociology of attachment (Hennion, 2004; 2007), the concept of ‘taste-making' (Gherardi, 2009) is thereby introduced as a central, performative practice (Hennion, 2004) elucidating the intricate interlacing of idea generation and evaluation.
Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on empirical data from a multisited video ethnographic fieldwork on the making of contemporary dance and movement theatre (CDMT), which has been part of my ongoing PhD project. The data has been analyzed according to the following research question: How is the making of contemporary dance and movement theatre realized by choreographic practices that interweave idea generation and evaluation in different forms of taste-making?
Findings - The paper suggests that in different phases of a creative process taste-making is central to distinctive ‘tactics' (Certeau, 1984) of dance making. Three rehearsal tactics are presented in depth: ‘collective improvisation as assessocratic performance', ‘employing ‘le regard exterieur by turns' and ‘postponing closure - deferring taste-making to future assemblages'. These tactics are presented as pertaining to two dominant aesthetics of the chosen context, namely an ‘aesthetic of im/perfection' and a twofold aesthetic of ‘capitulation & closure'.
Originality/value - The paper seeks to discuss organizational creativity from a practice-based approach based on process philosophy, distinguishing the various configurations of the idea generation and evaluation nexus, yet emphasizing their co-constitution in creative practice. By developing a conceptual framework around the performativity of practice and its inherent taste-making, the basic concept of practice is further opened up to the non-teleological openness, the collective (relational) aspects and the aesthetic aspects of a creative development process. The study thereby addresses a gap between creativity literature, mainly focusing on idea generation, and innovation literature, which mainly focuses on idea evaluation and implementation (Kijkuit & Van Den Ende, 2007). The paper is further contributing to the development of an aesthetics of organizational creativity as practice and therefore also draws on videographic data.