They definitely weren't dancers.Didn’t the majority of 1D fans still lap up their shows at the time? It’s one of those things where they would just be so happy to be seeing them they didn’t care about the professionalism/quality of the show.
It’s probably a good thing there was no choreo, from what I remember non of them sold themselves as being dancers?
I think the messing around on stage played into a grounded, fun, relatable vibe that management probably wanted to maintain. And like you say, they couldn't dance, so it probably helped give them something to do on stage to fill the space and time