A quotation from "How to be a gentleman" by J. Bridges:

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A gentleman may not be able to dance a samba, but he should be capable of a foxtrot which is almost like not dancing at all.
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I somehow cannot grasp the meaning of the last phrase, "...almost like not dancing at all."

Does it mean that foxtrot is not meant to be a real dance, only, say, striding?

Or - that this means, a gentleman is capable only of the minimum?

Or else?

I think you're right. I guess the idea is that dancing is undignified, but the foxtrot is only a kind of stylish walking, or striding.

'Gentlemen' should never be undignified; there's a facetious definition of a gentleman which goes, "A gentleman is a man who knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn't."

Obviously the writer has not heard of the american tv show "Dancing With The Stars" because I can tell you, the Fox Trot is more than just the basic box step stride that most think of.

Also, I don't think the writer thinks the idea of dancing is undignified. I think the point that was being made is that a man of refinement would know how to do a ballroom dance...and while he may not be able to do a vigorous (and raunchy) Samba he most certainly should be able to do the Fox Trot which can be considered a more refined and elegant dance. And if the writer is thinking of a Fox Trot as nothing more than just the basic box step that explains why he tagged on the comment that it was "almost like not dancing at all". So basically I think he is saying that Gentlemen can dance a ballroom style of dance, even if it's nothing more than a simple Fox Trot.

Thank you both, very much!