Shall We Dance? (1951 song) Shall We Dance? (1951 song) "Shall We Dance?" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, "The King and I". It is sung by Anna Leonowens and the King of Siam, played by Gertrude Lawrence (in the original Broadway production) and Yul Brynner respectively. In addition, it was sung by Valerie Hobson in the original London West End production, and Marni Nixon (who only voiced-over songs while Deborah Kerr acted) in the 1956 film of "The King and I". The song is about Anna reminiscing over the idea of finding love at an English dance. The song
Anna Leonowens after the death of her father. While she was christened Anna Harriet Emma Edwards, Leonowens later changed Harriet to "Harriette" and ceased using her third given name (Emma). Leonowens' maternal grandfather, William Vawdrey (or Vaudrey) Glascott, was an English-born commissioned officer of the 4th Regiment, Bombay Native Infantry, in the Bombay Army. Glascott arrived in India in 1810, and was apparently married in 1815, although his wife's name is not known. According to biographer Susan Morgan, the only viable explanation for the complete and deliberate lack of information regarding Glascott's wife, in official British records, is that she "was not