It Only Happens When I Dance With You is a song in the key of C, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Fred Astaire introduced it in the 1948 MGM musical film Easter Parade, directed by Charles Walters and starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford and Ann Miller, for which all the songs are by Berlin. In the film Astaire first sings the song to Ann Miller, and later Judy Garland sings it to Astaire. Philip Furia and Laurie Patterson note that in the Astaire and Miller scene the couple's magic can never be recaptured, and Tap Dancing America describes Miller dancing with a dreamlike grace.
Astaire's version was released as a UK single in 1949, backed by Judy Garland's Better Luck Next Time. Frank Sinatra recorded the song for Columbia in 1948. The earliest known performance is Astaire's, dated 11 December 1947 and released on the Easter Parade soundtrack. It is a swing-style vocal standard.
