About Onça, Baraka Mundi Founder & Director

Onça O'Leary, Bandit Queen
A teacher, event producer, and full-throttle entertainer, Onça's touring project for 2008-2009 is "The Mezmer Society" , a collaboration with Balkan accordionist August Hoerr and their musical ensemble. The Society presents a delicious melange of Eastern European music, powerful bellydance technique, goodwill, bad behavior, and sultry oddements. The year 2008 saw The Mezmer Society as featured instructors at TribalCon in Atlanta, TribalFest in California, Tribal Revolution in Chicago and Triboriginal in North Carolina.

Director of Baraka Mundi Live Music & Dance Ensemble since 1999, Onça has long been known for her evocative stage presence. Baraka Mundi pioneered tribal bellydance in the Carolinas and was nominated for 'Best Kept Secret'. She was the first in the world to be Certified in General Skills by Carolena Nericcio, founder of American Tribal Bellydance. Her annual dance camp, Triboriginal, was nominated in 2008 as 'Best Event' in the national Golden Belly Awards. She is also an internationally published author and illustrator under her given name, Lauren O'Leary.

For more info on Onça, visit
The Mezmer Society: Luscious Cabaret & Balkan Ruckus & Baraka Mundi at www.barakamundi.com/mezmer
Triboriginal: Tribal Dance, Music & Culture Camp at www.triboriginal.org