  A generic property of curved manifolds is the existence of focal points. We
show that branes located at focal points of the geometry satisfy special
properties. Examples of backgrounds to which our discussion applies are AdS_m x
S^n and plane wave backgrounds. As an example, we show that a pair of AdS_2
branes located at the north and south pole of the S^5 in AdS_5 x S^5 are half
supersymmetric and that they are dual to a two-monopole solution of N=4 SU(N)
SYM theory. Our second example involves spacelike branes in the (Lorentzian)
plane wave. We develop a modified lightcone gauge for the open string channel,
analyze in detail the cylinder diagram and establish open-closed duality. When
the branes are located at focal points of the geometry the amplitude acquires
most of the characteristics of flat space amplitudes. In the open string
channel the special properties are due to stringy modes that become massless.
