Julia

Julia Borrull

Valencia , 1985

Performer

Flamenco dancer

Daughter of Miguel Borrull Castellón. In 1910, promoted by her father in Madrid’s variety halls, she began dancing flamenco with her sister Isabel, adopting the stage name ‘Las Hermanas Borrull’ or ‘Las Egipcias’. The sisters made their debut a year later at the Teatre Arnau in Barcelona. In 1912, their success made it possible for them to perform for a few months at the flamenco restaurant La Feria in Paris.

Between 1913 and 1915, she embarked on a successful solo tour of different Spanish cities. In 1915, the family moved to Barcelona where she ran the Café Villa Rosa from 1916. At the same time, she performed in theatres in Barcelona and throughout the country, including Sala Imperio (Barcelona), Teatre Eslava (Valencia), Teatro de la Zarzuela (Madrid) and the Kursaal (Melilla).

She took over the direction of the family-run Café Villa Rosa in 1926. In 1934, she took part in the premiere of the flamenco comedy La zambra by Chorro Jumo at the Teatre Poliorama.

Julio Romero de Torres captured the dancer in the painting Alegrías (1917).