Facão Invertido
The mirror-side reversal of samba de gafieira's machete leg-sweep (facão)
SambaLevel: Intermediate2 min read5 citations
The facão invertido ("inverted machete") is a dramatic leg-sweep figure of samba de gafieira, the Rio de Janeiro partner dance that took shape in the city's gafieira dance halls [1]. It reads as the mirror image of the basic facão — Portuguese for "machete" — in which one leg cuts low across the floor in a sharp arc evoking a machete swing, drawing the extended, theatrical lower-body line for which the style is known [4]. In the inverted form that action is flipped: the sweep travels toward the opposite side and the partners exchange the cutting leg, resolving the leg line to the mirror side of the standard facão [3].
Execution. Throughout the figure the leader and follower hold a firm closed frame and work on opposite (mirror) legs, sweeping away from a shared centre so the reversal reads as a clean, matched line rather than a collision [2]. Because samba de gafieira is danced to samba in 2/4 metre, the cutting leg places its sweep on the strong beat of a slow-quick-quick phrase, letting the arc draw out and register clearly instead of being swallowed by the syncopation [5].
Related figures and reach. The facão and its inverted form belong to a family of theatrical gafieira figures alongside the trança (braid) and the tesoura (scissors), all of which share the same interlaced, low lower-body play [4]. Like much of that vocabulary, the figure remains largely particular to samba de gafieira and to the Brazilian and diaspora studios that teach it, where the Portuguese name travels intact with the step [2].
How it's danced
Lead and follow cues
CountSamba 2/4 ('slow-quick-quick' / '1-a-2'); the sweep arc is placed on the accented strong beat of the phrase so it does not rush the syncopated 'a'. Samba de gafieira does not use salsa On1/On2 timing.
Lead
From the closed gafieira embrace and an active ginga, the leader settles weight onto one leg, presents the free (sweeping) leg low to the floor, and leads the inversion by reversing the arc of the basic facão — drawing the cutting leg across and away toward the mirror side while keeping the frame firm. The sweep is marked on the strong beat of the 2/4 phrase so the leg line resolves to the opposite side of the basic facão.
Follow
Settling weight onto the supporting (mirror) leg and keeping the swept leg free and light, the follower yields that leg to the reversed arc the leader marks, letting it travel across and away toward the mirror side without bracing or loading weight onto it. She meets the same strong beat the leader strikes, completing the inverted leg line opposite the basic facão.
Song timingSuits moderate samba/gafieira recordings, roughly 100–120 bpm in 2/4, where the sweep has room to read; partido-alto and traditional gafieira-band tempos sit comfortably in this band. Faster sambas (130+ bpm) compress the dramatic arc and the inversion blurs.
Learn first
Prerequisites
- Samba de gafieira basic step (samba básico)
- Ginga — the gafieira body sway and weight transfer
- The standard facão (facão simples) leg-sweep
- Firm closed frame and single-leg balance
- Comfort leading and yielding low leg sweeps
Watch out
Common mistakes
- Striking the sweep on the syncopated 'a' instead of the strong beat, so the dramatic arc rushes and blurs.
- Under-reversing the inversion, so the figure collapses back toward a basic facão and the line never resolves to the mirror side.
- Follower loading weight onto the swept leg, jamming the sweep — the working leg must stay free and light.
- Losing frame or leaning into the sweep, leaving the leg line unbalanced.
- Sweeping with the same-side (non-mirror) leg, breaking the opposite-foot mirror relationship between the partners.
Don't confuse with
Easily confused moves
- 'Facão' literally means machete (a tool); the English 'inverted machete' is a translation, not a name dancers use.
- Tesoura (scissors) — a related but distinct dramatic gafieira leg figure, not the facão.
- Trança (braid/plait) — an interlaced-leg gafieira figure in the same family, separate from the facão.
- International / ballroom 'Samba' figures (botafogos, voltas) belong to a different dance form and have no facão.
- Leg sweeps in salsa or bachata are unrelated to the gafieira facão.
Around the world
Other names
Rio de Janeiro / Brazil (samba de gafieira)
Facão Invertido
Standard gafieira term; 'facão' = machete, 'invertido' = inverted. The base figure is the facão, with 'invertido' marking the reversed-direction variation.
References
- 1.Samba de gafieira – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre — pt.m.wikipedia.org
- 2.Samba de Gafieira - Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org
- 3.Samba de Gafieira 01 - Centro de Artes New Roots — newroots.com.br
- 4.Entenda o facão e a trança na gafieira de maneira simples - Espaço de Dança Andrei Udiloff — andreiudiloff.com.br
- 5.Library of Dance - Samba — www.libraryofdance.org
How to cite this article
Choose a style and copy the citation.
Bailar Editorial Team. (2026). Facão Invertido. Bailar Biblioteca. Retrieved June 29, 2026, from https://bailar.site/biblioteca/move/samba-facao-invertido
Bailar Editorial Team. “Facão Invertido.” Bailar Biblioteca, 2026, bailar.site/biblioteca/move/samba-facao-invertido. Accessed 29 June 2026.
Bailar Editorial Team. “Facão Invertido.” Bailar Biblioteca. Accessed June 29, 2026. https://bailar.site/biblioteca/move/samba-facao-invertido.
@misc{bailar-move-samba-facao-invertido, author = {{Bailar Editorial Team}}, title = {{Facão Invertido}}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {Bailar Biblioteca}, url = {https://bailar.site/biblioteca/move/samba-facao-invertido}, note = {Accessed: 2026-06-29} }
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