Born on July 7, 1970, in Queens, New York, Robia LaMorte was taking dance instruction before she was ten years old. From that moment on she became a workaholic, practicing every day for hours, even in the backyard. Her big break could have come with her role as a young Victoria Principal in Mistress, but the producers edited her part out of the film. Her main breakthrough came in 1991, when she was picked by Prince to dance with him for the "Diamonds and Pearls" album. A single from the album went to #1 and Robia was pictured on the cover.

In 1994 she appeared in the independent feature The Pros & Cons of Breathing. Later on came a role in Spawn and, even more importantly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.



She studied at the LA School for the Performing Arts and the Dupree Dance Academy. She began dancing at the tender age of 12. She became a professional dancer at 16 and appeared in her first music video Shake Your Love for artist Deborah Gibson. She was paired with dancer Lori Werner and they became known as Diamond & Pearl - dancers for Prince. She and Lori Werner also appeared on the cover of Princes' "Diamonds & Pearls" album. LaMorte means 'The Death.' Grew up Roman Catholic and spent much of her early adulthood as part of the New Age Movement, but during the summer of 1997 (the hiatus between the first and second seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer), she became a born-again Christian following several life events that included an encounter with Christian bikers on a California freeway.