In this article I discuss how a shift from theories of embodiment to one of emplacement can inform how we understand the performing body in competitive and pedagogical contexts. I argue that recent theoretical advances concerning the senses, human perception and place offer new analytical possibilities for understanding skilled performances and events. In doing so I critically re-think my own analysis of the Spanish bullfight as an embodied performance to demonstrate the benefits of a shift from embodiment to emplacement as a theoretical and methodological approach; and propose that there are wider implications of such a theoretical shift for interpreting performances in other cultural and social contexts.