James Vu Anh Pham was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. At age 15 he started with hip hop and contemporary dance classes until age 16, when he commenced training in classical ballet at the Graduate College of Dance (Western Australia). He then joined STEPS Youth Dance Company before continuing his dance studies at the New Zealand School of Dance, majoring in Contemporary Dance.

Professionally, James has performed in several productions with Chunky Move: Rule of Thirds (2016), Depth of Field (2015), Complexity of Belonging (2014), AORTA (2013), 247 Days (2013), Embodiment 1:1:1 (2013) and An Act of Now (2012). In May 2014, James performed gentle is the power, a solo piece choreographed by Anouk van Dijk as part of SOLO Festival of Dance in Brisbane and also for Summersalt Festival and M1 Contact Dance Festival in Singapore.

He has been studying Countertechnique intensively since 2012, and became a certified teacher in 2014.

Independantly, James has performed in Alice Lee Holland's Tiny Little Tragedies (2012), professionally with Steps Youth Dance Company Fights & Flights (2014), Triumphs and Other Alternatives (2014) a new work by Ross McCormack’s dance company Muscle Mouth and World of Wearable Art (2015) under the directorship of Mike Mizrahi and Marie Adams.

In 2014, James received the Best Male Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work Helpmann Award for his performance in Chunky Move’s 247 Days and the Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer Australian Dance Award for AORTA.

As of 2016 James has relocated to Belgium to continue his career with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's Eastman, performing in Babel 7.16 in the Palais Des Papes for the Festival d'Avignon, guesting in Ravel with Ballet Flanders and ICON with the Göteborg Opera Dance Company. He also performed with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in Les Indes galantes, a production by the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.