Behind a small unobtrusive sign near Beetlebung Corner on Middle Road in Chilmark beats what many feel is the heart of dance on the Island. This is the location of the Yard, a Vineyard fixture since 1973.

A vibrant summer at the Yard was by no means a certainty this year, though, after it was revealed last fall that the dance organization was deeply in debt. In announcing its summer season, the Yard looks to a financially stable future that builds upon its longtime reputation of artistic integrity.

The season opens on Saturday, June 25 with H.T. Chen and Dancers, the resident company for three weeks in June. The company is known for blending Asian and Western modern aesthetics and during their stay will create a piece called Mountain which will include many children and seniors.

The following weekend Fräulein Maria performs a deconstruction and reinvention of The Sound of Music, a show that first gained a following in New York city appearing at Joe’s Pub and Lincoln Center out-of-doors.

“It’s both a loving tribute, but it’s also a little kitschy,” said David White, the new artistic director of the Yard during an interview this week in the Patricia Nanon theatre. “Liesl is played by a slightly, well, stocky modern dancer . . . and the nuns are all in hoodies; it’s really fantastic.”

The summer season marks the first one for Mr. White at the Yard but it is by no means his first dance around the block. In fact, the choreographer of Fraülein Maria, Doug Elkins, had his professional beginnings at Dance Theater Workshop in New York, the company Mr. White ran for 28 years.

In the same way Mr. White committed years to growing Dance Theater Workshop into the respected institution it is today, he has a broad vision for the Yard. One idea he views as essential is collaborating with local artists and presenting programming tailored to the local community.

“Because I want to explore the Brazilian community on the Island, we will probably be bringing in a Brazilian company and maybe putting Brazilian artists in residence on an ongoing basis,” he said.

Collaboration with other Island theatres and artists will also begin this summer. Fräulein Maria will show at the Performing Arts Center at the high school, Pigpen Theatre Company will come to the Island for their third summer in a row through a collaboration between the Yard, Vineyard Arts Project and ArtFarm Enterprises, and there will be periodic dance parties at the Yard featu ring Island musicians.

As part of his vision, Mr. White said he wants to “make sure that the Yard belongs to the Island on a year-round basis, not just to a summer crowd.”

Being experienced in both rural and urban settings — in addition to working for many years in New York city, Mr. White is currently a resident of a rural New Hampshire town — he understands the unique approach required for sustaining an arts institution on the Island.

“It’s easier in a big city where you can hop on a subway or you can send artists on a subway,” he said. “Here you have to seek people out, get to them, get in front of them.”

Part of his plan is to have unpublicized performances in public places. He would not go into specifics.

“Think of the word flotilla,” he said with a mischievous grin. “I’m not going to clarify that. I have one word for the Island and that word is flotilla.”

Other shows planned for the summer include John Moran . . . and His Neighbor, Saori, an autobiographical tale of two performers told through music, dance, mime and theatre. John Moran is best known as the protégé of Philip Glass. In early September the Yard’s four summer resident choreographers will show works developed during their four-week stay in August.

Mr. White’s summer is not just about producing dance though. He must also address the financial concerns of the organization. At the end of last year the Yard published a newsletter in which they announced they were $230,000 in debt, and that the artistic and executive director at the time, Wendy Taucher, had left the organization.

With that much debt the Yard could have easily folded and gone bankrupt. Perhaps what kept the organization alive was the spirit of generosity and effort of its founder, Patricia Nanon. Instead of closing up shop, the board looked for someone with the necessary experience to turn the venerable summer dance colony around.

Mr. White’s long career in running Dance Theater Workshop in New York city made him well qualified for the job. While considering the position he found some problems that needed to be addressed in order for him to sign on.

“I said, ‘If I’m going to do this I’m going to need to bring in some board members myself, which would help us reinforce the governance issues.’”

His request was granted and he brought in several new board members, all of whom have connections to the Vineyard. Two of the issues that he wanted the new board to address were transparency and financial responsibility.

Mr. White also reorganized the staff when he came on board. He did not fire anyone and said they were all good staff members.

Alison Manning is now general manager and director of development. Jesse Keller is resident manager of Island programs and education. They are both dancers as well.

Mr. White’s financial philosophy centers on trust and sustainability over time.

“Some people say how can you have a season when you owe money,” he said. “Well, we could go bankrupt and then you’d get like three cents on the dollar, maybe, or we could operate, keep up our visibility, segregate money to help create these payment plans, which we’ve done . . . and keep operating and show that this is worth supporting.”

He said that while the institution still has outstanding debts a plan is in place to repay them. Contributions include a $100,000 challenge grant the board offered when Mr. White took his position, plus grants from new board members and private donations.

The model of a year-round dance theatre in a small town is a bold one considering dance thrives mostly in big cities. But Mr. White is undaunted.

“The Yard is sort of in a process of revitalizing itself,” he said. “And that’s not to put anything on any of the art that has been here in recent years . . . it’s just simply to say that this is a kind of structural renewal.”