Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 10028 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine Portland after dark from left: listal; meaghan maurice and friendly hand–to a shaky newbie. Later, suggest getting to know one another better over a mug of hot chocolate in front of the glowing outdoor fire pit. Latin Passions I f you prefer your meet-cute a bit warm- er, try a salsa or bachata class at Danza Latina. Even if the steps won’t exact- ly flow at first, the conversation will. “The purpose of all our classes is social dancing, not competition,” says Anna Golendukhi- na, who owns the company with her part- ner, Lazaro Hernandez. “It’s a very relax- ing atmosphere. We laugh a lot, have fun.” The classes are ongoing, so you can sponta- neously drop in whenever the spirit moves you. Thoseseekingtomeetsomeoneofthe malepersuasionmayfindthemselvesatapar- ticularadvantage. “In both classes for some reason there are always more men. They are there first and foremost to learn, and many of them are great dancers, but there’s no denying Turner Classic MAINE S incethemovieHowToBeSingleisourpoint ofdepartureforthisstory,wecontactedBen Mankiewicz,hostofTurnerClassicMovies,to takesusclosertoMaineinthemoviesaswe engagealargerculture. Isthereasingularpowerof Mainersasmaincharacters infilm? BenMankiewicz: It’sfunnyyoucalledme.I’ve justspentthemorninginterviewingFrankDa- rabont*.Naturally,Mainecameupagainand again. Butinaromanticcomedy,insomethinglikeHowToBe Single,whydoyouthinkthelegendaryscreenwriting teamofAbbyKohn&MarcSilverstein(He’sJustNotThat IntoYou)choseMaineasthehomestateforAlice,their leadcharacterwho’sexploringthedatingsceneinBrook- lyn?IsitbecauseMaineisvaguelyinvoguebutstillsort of ‘partsunknown’? BM: Hmm.Ifyouhearsomethingonthephone, it’sthesoundofmeeatingpotatochips.What exactlydoyoumean? If youwenttoCentralCastingandaskedforayoung Mainewomanasafemalelead,whatcharacteristics wouldshehave? BM: Inamodernmovie.Okay.Iwouldlookfor thatindependencethatsomehowreachesbe- yondthescreen.Let’sstartwithKatharineHep- burn.Irealizeshe’snotfromMaine. WeconsiderConnecticut‘greaterMaine.’ BM: Yes,butintheNewEnglandsense,whenI seeKatharineHepburn,thereisafiercenessto herthatcomesacrossinjustabouteveryrole. Youcantellrightawaythiswomanisnotlike theotherwomeninthemovie.Youknow,Anna KendrickisKatharineHepburntoday.Who wasitthatjustsaidthatAnnaKendrickisthe mosttalentedwomanworkinginHollywood? Rightnow,ifyouweretomakealistoftheeight mosttalentedactorsunder50,thereisnoway shewouldn’tbeonthelist.LikeHepburnshe hasaqualitytoher,nomatterwhattheroleis, thatmakesherinstantlylikeable–butyou’renot surewhatshe’sgoingtodonext.Itdoesn’thurt thatshelovesmoviesherself.Youcantellthat’s truebecauseshe’svisitedusatTCMandoneof herfavoritesisTheWomen.[Directedin1939 byGeorgeCukor,TheWomenfeaturesNorma Shearer,RosalindRussell,JoanCrawford,Pau- letteGoddard,andJoanFontaine.] Yes,she’stoldussheoncedreamedof beingcastinthe 2008version.[Theupdateof TheWomenfeaturesMeg Ryan,EvaMendes,AnnetteBening,JadaPinkettSmith, andDebraMessing.] BM: Luckyforher,shewasn’tchosentoplayin thenewversionofthatmovie. DakotaJohnsonisnotfromMaine.Butshechannelsher Mainecharacter’sreticence,independence,integrity,and watchfulnessinHowToBeSingle.Infact,asIwatchedthe film,Iwonderedif thedirectorhadhopedtocastAnna Kendrickintherolebutcouldn’tgether,andthenitfell toDakotatoplayAlice.‘GetmeanAnnaKendricktype.’ BM: Yeah. I don’t think I saw How To Be Single. But Dakota Johnson–she was in the train wreck that was Fifty Shades of Gray. After they saw it, the one thing people came out and said was she could be a pretty big star. She’s not just beauti- ful. There’s something else. *Nominated three times for the Oscar, Darabont is deeply connected to the Maine mys- tique. The French-born son of Hungarian refugees from the Soviet incursion of 1956, Darabont moved to Los Angeles as a young child and graduated from Hollywood High. He wrote and directed both Stephen King’s The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, both of which probe the extraordinary sense of Maine. Slip and slide your way into romance atThe Rink at Thompson’s Point.Grab a drink at the yurt bar afterward and you’ve got the recipe for a perfect date.