Anyone who has watched an early embryo develop cannot help but be awed by the choreography of the early cleavages. The orientation and timing of cleavage in an animal cell are always such that the cleavage furrow bisects the mitotic apparatus (MA) during telophase, thus ensuring the equal partitioning of daughter chromosomes. In addition, the regulation of cleavage plane orientation is necessary for correct partitioning of localized determinants to specific daughter cells, for optimal positioning of cells in developing embryos, and for morphogenesis in plants, where cells are not motile.