The dancer, as well as choreographer and backup dancer Marlyn Ortiz, born in 1976 - who danced in the New York clubs of the 90s, in Broadway musicals and in tours and music videos of Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, The Black Eyes Peas, Taylor Swift and Usher - is now the starting point for Martim Pedroso's next performance. The idea came to light in 2017 and not even a worldwide pandemic stopped this project from materialising. With closed borders, between meetings via zoom, Whatsapp messages and video calls, the script was being written, and each day that goes by, an ocean away, was another day of epic doubts, hesitations, risky projections and some certainties, always towards the future and a show in the future. 

5, 6, 7, 8 and One is a hybrid between docfilm and docudrama. It is known to orbit around the biography of a Puerto Rican dancer and choreographer who started dancing in a backyard in the Bronx, who has been on the biggest stages and arenas on planet Earth and who, at a certain point, crossed paths with a Portuguese stage director and actor on a certain terrace in downtown Lisbon. They like to look at this project as a dedication to all the artists who empower other artists.   

"I didn't conquer this place alone. Getting here and now, is the result of who I am and what I have achieved, as well as the result of all those who believed in me and protected me. It is also the result of all those who gave me nothing and rejected me. They have all empowered me. They made my internal strength, my confidence and my expression grow. My power is the result of my unconditional love for dance, my technique, discipline, perseverance, strength, my struggles, my sexuality, my anger, my fears and weaknesses. My movement, itself, is the result of my internal voice that has been built up by all these atoms."