At ExHaLTT Performing Arts Academy, Jill Thomasson offers opportunities for people to express themselves through dance, music and more, all with a faith base.

"Our tagline is, 'Where the arts thrive, the soul comes alive,'" she stated. As the nonprofit organization blossomed this past year, Thomasson faced a personal struggle, but she hasn't let it stop her vision of bringing the arts to everyone.

Thomasson was just putting the finishing touches on the studio's move to the second floor of The Elizabeth, 18 N. Market St., Elizabethtown, in August, when she received a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Within days of her diagnosis, she also received word that ExHaLTT had been approved for its official 501(c)(3) designation.

"I am an overcomer," she stated. "Nothing was going to deter me in my mission. To get hit with this diagnosis was really tough, but the ExHaLTT community just rallied around me."

Thomasson had surgery and began chemotherapy, but she continued to move forward with her studio, starting the season in October after completing extensive renovations to the new space.

The studio offers classes for children and adults in hip-hop dance, modern dance, creative movement, musical theater and adult fitness.

Along with classes, Thomasson wants the studio to offer people a chance to get out into the community and give back through the "Dancers Make a Difference" initiative. The organization held food drives in November and December and performed for a Valentine's Day tea at Paramount Senior Living at Lancaster County in Maytown.

Thomasson recently began offering a social dance series featuring country line dancing, swing dance and salsa classes.

"These are classes for community members," she said. "The end goal isn't a performance, like our academy dancers, but it's focused on learning and having fun."

ExHaLTT will host a Spring Fling Festival fundraiser on Friday, April 5, at Stone Gables Estate in Elizabethtown, and will hold a musical intensive program this summer, culminating in a performance of "Newsies Jr.," at Elizabethtown Area High School in August.

Thomasson is also in the midst of forming a choir through ExHaLTT, and she just donated her own piano to the studio.

Everything she does at ExHaLTT is designed to help people connect with themselves and each other, she said.

"When people invest in artistic endeavors, there is another layer of their whole being that comes to a place of expression they don't get to when they just go through their daily lives," she said. "Sometimes, people don't start to come alive until they are involved in expressing themselves, whether that's through dance or vocal instruction or another form of art."

Through her own experience this past year, Thomasson learned firsthand how important the arts are to well-being, and she's thankful she has had a community to lean on.

"People say to me, 'I can't believe you have this much energy and you just had chemo,'" she said. "But I'm just grateful. Do I like having this happen to me? I would never choose to draw this card, but I believe God knew I would be going through this, and He's had my hand as I've walked through this. The ExHaLTT community has been with me, too. I have a a deep, deep sense of purpose in what I'm doing that keeps me moving forward, keeps me excited and keeps my energy level up."

To learn more about ExHaLTT, visit http://www.exhalttdancecompany.org.