“She made me feel loved, seen and accepted,” said sophomore Moira Larson. “She believed in me, and I only wish she could have known how much that meant.”
On April 2, 19 members of the Sacred Heart University Dance Program will perform a piece entitled “For JJ” in remembrance of Julianna “JJ” Sannino, who passed away on April 3, 2025. The performance will take place at 2 p.m. outside of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit.
a moment of simple joy and genuine spirit.
Contributed by Lauren Foellmer, ‘26
The piece begins with Larson as a soloist dancing Sannino’s choreography. She is later joined by the rest of the dancers, performing a mix of the choreography of Sannino and Garet Wierdsma, a faculty member and choreographer of the Dance Program. Wierdsma worked with Sannino for two years as her instructor, and she said that Sannino hoped for her choreography to be presented on the Edgerton stage.
Wierdsma was inspired by Sannino’s ambition and choreographed the rest of the music in efforts to give Sannino’s choreography a home within a full ensemble piece.
“I’m really honored to have been asked to create this piece, and I know what a big responsibility this is,” said Wierdsma. “She was a person who would continue to work on the choreography on the side of the room while I was working with another group, and I can tell that she would go home and practice. She worked hard to put her best foot forward on the stage and brought my stories to life in a really beautiful, genuine way.”
Seniors of the dance program reached out to Wierdsma to help bring this choreography to life in honor of their friend for what would have also been her last semester at Sacred Heart.
“JJ was supposed to graduate alongside us, and it is incredibly painful to know that she won’t be on stage dancing with us or walking at graduation,” said senior Lauren Foellmer. “There is not a single day that goes by that we don’t think about her and wish she were still here. While no dance could ever fully capture the kind of person JJ was, we have done our best to reflect her spirit, her energy, and her deep passion for both dance and the people around her.”
In addition to the performance, there will be a gathering hosted by the Education Program at the Chapel to honor the life Sannino lived and reflect on how she touched the lives of others.
“JJ was a vibrant member of our SHU community,” said Dr. Katie Cunningham, a professor and Teacher Education Program director. “She majored in Interdisciplinary Studies and was taking courses to help her prepare to become a skilled and caring educator. Her warmth and devotion to teaching and learning were known widely by her classmates and professors.”
If you or someone you know is struggling, please contact the SHU Counseling Center at 203-371-7599. A counselor is on call 24/7, even after hours and on weekends and holidays.
“One of my favorite memories of her is how she would bring chicken tenders to dance almost every week,” said Foellmer. “She would laugh about how the whole room smelled like them and joke that she was distracting everyone, but then she’d immediately start offering fries to anyone nearby. It’s such a simple memory, but it captures her generosity, her humor, and the way she made everyone feel included.”
