Vanessa Cobham was born January 31, 1976 in Scarborough, Ontario. At the age of one she moved to Ajax where she lived for 20 years. Growing up in a Guyanese household gave Vanessa a firm foundation and the guidance she needed to further her career.Vanessa's parents started her in dance class at the age of five because she was a very active child. From then on tap, jazz, ballet and hip-hop have been her passion. Vanessa has taken her dance career from the small town of Ajax, Ontario to the big city of Toronto.Her first taste of the downtown dance scene was at Randolph Dance Academy where she started taking hip-hop classes. Through networking Vanessa found out about auditions for the NBA Toronto Raptors Dance Pak. Ambition and drive allowed Vanessa to show up and audition for the first ever Raptors Dance Pak tryouts at the age of 18. She was one of the few chosen to join the team. This was her first paying dance job that paved the way for bigger and better things to come.During her four years on the Raptors Dance Pak, Vanessa found her way into movies, stage shows, tours, commercials and her biggest accomplishment the Broadway musical, The Lion King'.