Best in dance for 2012 | Laura Bleiberg

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'Cleopatra, CEO''Cinderella'Alonzo King's Lines Ballet at the Laguna Playhouse'Snow White''Firebird'Pájaro de Nube'Transit Space'Jury is out - Benjamin Millepied's L.A. Dance Project

Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, Los Angeles' best-known and most prolific site-specific dance company, has had a busy year with a revival of Duckler's breakthrough work, "Laudromatinee"; ongoing performances of "Expulsion" (in partnership with cultural organizations in Koreatown and Little Ethiopia); "Kiss n' Ride," commissioned for the Van Nuys FlyAway; and "Catch Your Breath" at the Barlow Respiratory Hospital. Highest praise, however, is reserved for "Cleopatra, CEO," January's excursion through the 51st-story penthouse suite of the Paul Hastings Tower downtown. In overlaying the Egyptian queen's story within a seat of 20th century of capitalist power (the former headquarters for ARCO), Duckler cleverly matched the ancient with the contemporary, a Middle East monarchy with big oil, and sidestepped a minefield of movement clichés.

'Cleopatra, CEO'

( Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times )

Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, Los Angeles' best-known and most prolific site-specific dance company, has had a busy year with a revival of Duckler's breakthrough work, "Laudromatinee"; ongoing performances of "Expulsion" (in partnership with cultural organizations in Koreatown and Little Ethiopia); "Kiss n' Ride," commissioned for the Van Nuys FlyAway; and "Catch Your Breath" at the Barlow Respiratory Hospital. Highest praise, however, is reserved for "Cleopatra, CEO," January's excursion through the 51st-story penthouse suite of the Paul Hastings Tower downtown. In overlaying the Egyptian queen's story within a seat of 20th century of capitalist power (the former headquarters for ARCO), Duckler cleverly matched the ancient with the contemporary, a Middle East monarchy with big oil, and sidestepped a minefield of movement clichés.

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