Despite Valentine’s Day plans and a late-night hockey game against a Massachusetts rival, Friday night found Robsham Theater at full capacity for Sexual Chocolate’s annual Big Show.
This year’s show, which sold out in less than 24 hours, was themed “Step Wars: The Rhythm Awakens.” The dynamic troupe of steppers took the audience through skits spanning the entire plot of the first Star Wars movie.
Before the titular group took the stage, hip-hop team Synergy got the crowd going. Clad in red, black, and denim, Synergy brought the passion with complex choreography highlighted by small group movements and cheeky solo moments.
Sexual Chocolate began its performance with a classic step routine to “tv off” by Kendrick Lamar, accentuated by a ’90s-style video montage projected on the stage’s backdrop. The dancers were clad in their standard SC shirts, blue jeans, and Timberland boots, a uniform the audience would not see again until much later.
The performance was complex and intricate, made possible through the heavy use of projected backdrops, costumes, wigs, prerecorded skits, and many scene changes. The audience watched throughout the night as the story progressed through “Step-trooper forces” kidnapping Princess “Sleia” aboard the “Freak Star” and Darth Vader clashing with “Lord Pimpatine.” The 90-minute skit was packed full of humor, drama, and plenty of NSFW jokes.
A consistent source of comedic relief was “C-FreakyO,” played by Alessandro Cella, MCAS ’26, and an uncharacteristically exasperated R2D2, played by Jeremiah Alhassan, MCAS ’27, who motored around the stage on a blue scooter board.
The Star Wars ambiance was enhanced by periodic appearances by The Heightsmen, BC’s all-male a cappella group, who performed “Star Wars (Main Title)” and “Cantina Band,” as well as more modern hits like “Buy U A Drank” by T-Pain.
Truly no detail was spared, including videos of the characters venturing on the Comm. Ave. bus to Circle and a training montage showing Luke Skywalker and Yoda running sprints up and down the Million Dollar Stairs.
For Sexual Chocolate, the work began over winter break, when they began drafting the show from scratch. Rehearsals ran five days a week with skit filming over the weekend.
“A lot of hard work … a lot of late practices, 3 a.m. practices, but it’s all worth it,” said Miki Sauska, MCAS ’25.
The high-end production was interspersed with the dance team’s classic step routines. During a visit to “BBL City,” BC’s all-female step team, Females Incorporating Sisterhood Through Step, appeared on stage, playing a group of potential allies to help fight against the Empire. The two step teams engaged in a collaborative dance, as well as a solo from the women, inciting a passionate response from the audience.
The “Step Wars” plot concluded with a rousing lightsaber fight between Skywalker and Darth Vader and a Maury-style revelation of Skywalker’s parental lineage. After Kewrys Berroa, MCAS ’27, declared that Vader was the father, the team rushed into the audience and fled the auditorium, queuing yet another video montage that seemed to end the show.
The farewell was short as the dancers retook the stage, dressed in their classic uniform once again, to perform four more step routines to songs like “You Got It” by Vedo and “Say It” by Tory Lanez. The performers danced on chairs, ripped off their shirts, and threw flower petals into the air while doing moves straight out of Magic Mike.
For the penultimate performance, Sexual Chocolate was accompanied on stage by female dancers from Vida de Intensa Pasión and the BC Golden Eagles. The coupled-up dancers performed steamy choreography in sync with a mashup of “Dangerous Woman” by Ariana Grande and “Earned It” by The Weeknd.
The last dance of the night titled “The Force” featured the group’s signature rhythmic stomping, echoing the classic sounds of “The Imperial March” and closing out a show that was as rich with comedy as it was with dynamic dance. Sexual Chocolate’s “Step Wars: The Rhythm Awakens” show should be remembered as yet another ringing success for the team, living up to its “sexual” name and setting the bar high for performances to come.
