My name is Michelle Rambharose, and I’m a multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto. I’m originally from Scarborough, Canada, and am of Guyanese descent (Indo-Caribbean & Arawak). I work as an actor in video game, film, TV, theatre, as a director in theatre, and as a facilitator in community arts spaces.
As an artist, I’ve explored many different roles as a creator and performer. Having started performing in theatre as a teenager, and continuing by studying theatre performance at Concordia University, in Montréal, Canada, and across Europe through exchange programming, my ongoing love for contemporary live performance was sparked early on by artists ranging from Miet Warlop, Romeo Castellucci, Marina Abramovic (who hugged me without a word at her 2014 exhibit in London). I continued to work and live in Montréal for years, creating and performing in theatre. Between working as an actor in theatre, I also co-wrote, produced, and directed original theatre pieces — mostly exploring themes of the performance of gender and sexuality and political upheaval. I also regularly taught theatre performance to teens with Geordie Theatre School.
My work as a director investigates highly collaborative processes, distinctly physical performances, and often explores feminist and queer theory. For the creation and facilitation of performance, I draw on traditions of ensemble, various physical theatre practices (mask, clown, viewpoints, and laban techniques), and my training in various styles of dance (hip-hop, vogue, heels, afro-beat).
Since then, I have worked in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver in film, tv, commercials, voice and full performance capture for video games — including for one of the lead roles of New Tales from the Borderlands (Gearbox).
Since 2022, I’ve been back home in Toronto where I’ve trained with Galen Hooks as a dancer, created as a dancer as an artist-in-residence with Arrivals Legacy Project’s Seed Pool Residency in 2023, been the on-going voice of Morton Salt, been a creative writing mentor for Many Waters - a community arts project for LGBTQ+ Guyanese youth, led by Undercurrent Creations, and directed a staged reading of Shaharah Gaznabbi’s new play Protectors of the Lost Scribe at Tarragon Theatre.
The past year I’ve been learning filmmaking theory and analogue techniques at the Liaison of Independent Filmmaking of Toronto and studying to become a Registered Massage Therapist — deepening my passion for the human body and bridging it with my interest in healing modalities.
Beyond my artistic work, I love analogue photography, playing guitar and singing, astrology, and have recently discovered how much I love surfing (even if I am not amazing at it yet!!) .
Past work includes:
Full performance capture for the lead role of Anu in New Tales from the Borderlands (Gearbox & 2K) released in 2022, voicing Junlei Tennyson (and others) in The Outerworlds (Obsidian Entertainment/Private Division) which won the 2020 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Video Game, Kate Winthrop in Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace (Asmodee Digital), and returning to voice Dr. Blossom, Isabella Essary, and others in The Outerworlds DLC Murder on Eridanos.
TV & film appearances in Death She Wrote (Lifetime/CTV), Lethal Love (Marvista Entertainment/Netflix US), The Parker-Andersons/Amelia Parker (Marble Media/Amazon Prime) (See IMBD).
Acting for the Centaur Theatre/Stratford Theatre production of Paradise Lost (2020), movement direction for Chattermarks at Lachapelle Scène Contemporaines (Cabal Theatre, 2020); playing a trilingual Hermia in The Dream Project 3.0 with NYC’s Yonder Window Theatre Company (2019).
Training includes:
Training as a dancer with various teachers across the world — most notably VMA-nominated choreographer & dancer, Galen Hooks, in both 2020 and 2022, and old way vogue with Icon Overall Mother Koppi Mizrahi in Tokyo, Japan in 2023. Studying many physical theatre techniques — varying from Suzuki Method & Viewpoints from Barney O’Hanlan, to Authentic Movement from Tedi Tafel, to staged combat and fencing from Anita Nittoly. In 2019, intensively training in the athletic endurance-based stage performance techniques of Belgium’s Troubleyn/Jan Fabre & New York’s SITI Company in Rijeka, Croatia (under the full funding of Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec & Canada Council for the Arts).
BFA Specialization in Theatre Performance from Concordia University, and an alumni of Black Theatre Workshop’s Artistic Mentorship Program.
