Trajectories of creative survival in the performing arts sector

This paper organizes the findings of two projects funded by the Veneto region to assist Performing Art Organizations (PAOs) in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have developed a methodological approach that included in-depth interviews, the creation of a SWOT analysis, the examination of the business model, and data on turnover, production, cost, and revenue structure. Our investigation's main findings reveal the strategies used by PAOs to survive the pandemic: those organizations that have achieved consecration in the cultural field over time have reached their greatest strengths in the strategic areas of their business model, investing energy and seizing the right opportunities. Those PAOs that have suffered the most from the pandemic crisis have taken two different paths: in some cases, they were unable to identify their weaknesses and have entered an economic deficit, while in others, they have taken a path of transformation away from merged organizational dynamics. The main implications in the field concern the motivation and methods underlying the various creative trajectories: they result from a repositioning of one's business model in a competitive key, as a reflection of a profound change in the audience and mode of operation, in society and the economic system.