Ernesto Balmaceda

Ernesto Balmaceda is a tango dancer who has been documented as a milonguero, professional dancer and teacher, the three roles named in the title of a 2017 filmed interview for Farol ^[5]. By his own account, given in a REVISTANGO interview with Stella Báez, he grew up helping his father, Miguel Balmaceda, teach the basic step to relatives. He began teaching professionally in 1995 at Club Almagro, where his brother had been invited to teach ^[1].

His dance partner is Stella Báez, who by his account also became his wife about a year after he started teaching at Club Almagro ^[1]. A dancer listing also records a partnership with Estela Báez as a separate entry, and sources differ in how the partner's name is given ^[2]. The pair is documented teaching in Chicago in 2007 ^[4]. In Buenos Aires they danced a tribute to Miguel and Julio Balmaceda at Salón Canning in 2022 ^[6]. In 2023 they sat on a competition jury ^[7], and they were still teaching and giving interviews together in 2025 ^[8].

Early life and family

Most of what is documented about Balmaceda's early life comes from his own account in a REVISTANGO interview ^[1]. He said that at about 16 or 17 years old he began helping his father, Miguel Balmaceda, teach the basic step to relatives; the dossier dates this to around 1977 ^[1].

According to the same interview, Miguel Balmaceda died of cancer at the age of 59. Ernesto gave the year only as "'91 or 92", so the exact year is uncertain ^[1].

His brother is identified as Julio Balmaceda on the basis of the family's documented history ^[1]. In 2022 Ernesto danced a tribute to both his father and his brother, described further below ^[6].

Teaching at Club Almagro

Balmaceda's account dates his brother's invitation to teach at Club Almagro to around 1994 ^[1]. About a year later, around 1995, his brother asked him to help teach the beginner and intermediate classes there. Ernesto described this as the start of his professional teaching path ^[1].

Partnership with Stella Báez

By Balmaceda's account, Stella Báez became his dance partner, and his wife, about a year after he started teaching at Club Almagro, around 1996 ^[1]. Their REVISTANGO interview was published under the title "Hasta que un día no nos separamos más" ^[1].

A dancer listing records partnerships with both "Stella Baez" and "Estela Baez" as separate entries ^[2]. The sources do not state whether these are the same person, and the spelling of the partner's name differs between them ^[2].

Performances and appearances

On 22 July 2002, Balmaceda was photographed with Carlos Gavito and other milongueros after Gavito's show at La Trastienda ^[3].

In September 2007 he taught and danced with Stella Báez in Chicago, in the United States ^[4].

On 27 December 2022 the pair danced a tribute to Miguel and Julio Balmaceda, titled "Homenaje a Los Balmaceda", at Parakultural in Salón Canning ^[6].

In 2023 Balmaceda sat on the jury of a preliminary round of the Tango BA Festival and World Championship ^[7]. The other jurors were Stella Báez, Corina de la Rosa and Alejandro Andrián ^[7].

Teaching

After beginning at Club Almagro in the mid-1990s, Balmaceda continued to teach ^[1]. In 2017 a filmed interview for Farol presented him as "milonguero, bailarín profesional, profesor" ^[5].

At the time of the 2021 REVISTANGO interview with Stella Báez, he taught a weekly milonguero class at Gabriela Elías's school ^[1]. A recorded class from 2025 shows him still teaching with Stella Báez, and the pair were still giving interviews together that year ^[8].

Related

Related dancers include his partner Stella Báez and the separately listed Estela Báez ^[2]. Family members named in the sources are his father, Miguel Balmaceda, and his brother, Julio Balmaceda ^[1].