The Harkness Dance Center at the 92nd Street Y is expanding thanks to a $5 million gift from Jody Gottfried Arnhold, a board member for the organization, and her husband, John. The gift will help create new studio space, which will be named for Ms. Arnhold, who is also the founder of the Dance Education Laboratory there.

Ms. Arnhold said that the donation was motivated by her affection and respect for the 92nd Street Y, especially with regard to its place in dance history. Modern dance in New York, she said, started at the 92nd Street Y. “In the ’30s there was no place else to see modern dance and a small cadre of people came to the Y to watch Martha Graham and those early dance pioneers who created the dance form,” she said.

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Ms. Arnhold also cited education as a reason for her gift. “Probably 3,000 dance artists and educators have come to the Dance Education Laboratory and today there are close to 500 dance teachers in New York City Public Schools,” she said in an interview.

Laurence Belfer, the chairman of the board at the 92nd Street Y, said, “To have Jody as a partner with us, to think through what the physical space should look like at the Y and who should populate it for the 21st century is a real gift, not just of money but also of talent and resources that we plan to put to good use.”