Richard Unciano was a dedicated teacher, accomplished performer, lecturer, researcher, author, and scholar of southeast European and Near Eastern traditional music and dance. He was based in Southern California.

Richard was born into a multi-ethnic family and raised in Los Angeles, California. He was deeply immersed in or involved with the "real, unadulterated heritages and cultures" of several local ethnic communities since his first exposure to these traditions as a child through his mother, a lifelong enthusiast of Russian and Hungarian gypsy music since the 1920s, and through his neighborhood friends (most of whom are Armenian). One of Richard's earliest memories was attending the wedding of a family friend who was marrying woman of Russian background. During his childhood, Richard studied violin.

Richard attended the University of California at Berkeleyon a full academic scholorship, majoring in Sociology after switching from Engineering Physics. After Berkeley, he worked in San Francisco for two years and became acquainted with a number of authentic "belly dancers" through an Iranian woman where he worked. Early recreational folk dance inspiration and influences were Gordon Engler and Rubi Vučeta.

Richard taught courses at Los Angeles City College, California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, and Mount San Antonio College for many years. He also taught classes at Riverside Community College, Rio Hondo College, the American Armenian International College at La Verne, Saint Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church A.C.Y.O. in Montebello, eight Los Angeles area Unified School Districts, Veselo Folk Dance Coffeehouse in Anaheim, Hadarim Folk Dance Center in Los Angeles, and The Intersection Folk Arts Center in