Alexandra Auder grew up in New York’s Chelsea Hotel with her adoring mum, whom she frequented movie sets with. Born Janet, but more famously known by the name Andy Warhol gave her, Viva, Alexandra’s mother worked on several Warhol films and was also a regular guest at The Factory in its heyday. In the end, however, Viva’s hosting of weekly Kirtan (devotional prayer) sessions in the hotel turned out to be more influential on her daughter’s later career than acting, as Alexandra is now a yoga teacher. To date Alexandra has been teaching for 15 years and is one of the New York’s most respected teachers. On West 11th Street, Manhattan, in an old brick townhouse that she shares with her artist husband Nick and daughter Lui, Alexandra conducts her much sought-after classes. Here she talks about how acting is still very much a passion of hers, and how she could never hold a “real” nine-to-five job.
Text by Lucia Davies
Poppy de Villeneuve is a photographer and film director. She shoots regularly for the New York Times, The Telegraph, and Vogue. Her most recent film project involved five short films set in Central Park for the New York Times. In 2010, several of her works were exhibited at Colette in Paris.
