Organizational identity has been mostly studied through discourse analyses, but more and more research unraveled the importance of embodied cognition in the understanding of the organizational identity for individuals. Due to the difficulty to study, capture and translate this tacit knowledge, few articles to date help us understand the role of embodied practices in processes of organizational identity change. Furthermore, existing studies of embodied organizational identity tend to focus on the individual level, to the extent that individuals come to perceive the identities of their organizations through their bodies, but don't address how this individual cognition influences organizational identity. To investigate these questions surrounding embodiment in the process of organizational identity work, we chose to study artistic organizations to take advantage of the expertise artists have in understanding their bodies. In the two cases we investigate, a new artistic director assumed leadership with a mandate to fundamentally change the organization, in distinctly different ways. Our findings draw attention to how tacit, embodied and material understandings of certain practices can influence organizational identity embodiment for employees through change in backstage ambiance, and for the public through the onstage performances.
