Excerpts from Wikiperdia (and me)...
This 1966 song by the group The Left Banke peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was one of the first pop songs to use the Lydian mode in its melody (there's a fun fact to bring up with your friends). I was drifting off to sleep a couple days ago and "ballerina" popped into my head for some reason...I did a google search and eventually found this song. I have not to my recollection heard this song since I was a kid..but..I like it..so..I decided to record it (I did a VR strip which was amazingly good.) "Pretty Ballerina" is one of several songs that Brown wrote about Renée Fladen, the girlfriend of Left Banke guitarist Tom Finn and the object of Brown's affections. Other songs written about her include the band's biggest hit, "Walk Away Renée", and "She May Call You Up Tonight".
The original version was sung by Steve Martin Caro who just recently died from heart disease on January 14, 2020. He was 71.
I find it a strange coincidence that he died just 17days or so before this word popped into my head....Chet