The Rhodopi International Theater Collective (RITC) was the original name of the Leon Katz Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory (RITL), an annual summer, month-long event for international theatre collaboration and development, which allowed professional participants to work with and train students and each other in distinct approaches from around the world. The name was changed in preparation for the 2009 session. The program operated under the previous name during the summers of 2005 to 2008. Professionals, scholars, and students attended the Laboratory - to train, develop new work, and conduct research - representing theatre companies and conservatories in several countries throughout the six inhabited continents. Held primarily in Smolyan, Bulgaria, in the center of the Rhodopi Mountains (or Rhodope Mountains), and hosted at the Rodopa Drama Theater (RDT) complex, the Lab served as a meeting ground for international collaboration. Background The Rhodopa Mountains is the mythological birthplace of Orpheus and the original terrain of the cult of Dionysus, thus a mythological birthplace of Western theatre and performance. The Lab was co-directed by Bulgarian theatre director Peter Karapetkov and American theatre director Jared J. Stein. It was founded by Karapetkov, Stein, RDT Artistic Director Krustyo Krustev, and American dramaturg Benjamin Nadler, who all collaborated at the RDT previously. In 2004, they led the RDT to partner with the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) in Sofia, the Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP) at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Zagreb's Academy of Dramatic Art to present the 2005 RITC. UCLA REMAP's Executive Director Jeff Burke led workshops and collaborations every summer, directing teams of artists and researchers to experiment with emerging technologies and different forms of performance - made possible by multiple grants of support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding. NATFA's Alexander Iliev served as a performance anthropologist, movement director and resident artist for all eight of the summers. Leon Katz was one of the original initiative's advisers and was a dramaturg and lecturer during the inaugural session in 2005. Other advisers included the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center’s J Ranelli. Development The program grew considerably as Italian dramaturg Sergio Costola (Southwestern University) and American director Jed Allen Harris (Carnegie Mellon School of Drama) joined as yearly contributors in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The changing of the name from Collective to Laboratory, and including Katz, occurred at the conclusion of