Great questions. I had the Jackson elite plus dance boot which is now discontinued and I am looking for another boot. I am an adult artistic/ gold/master pairs level skater. I loved the cut back and I usually had dance scallops put into my skates anyway. The dance boots were fine for jumps up to double sal. You do have to have good jump technique, as you can not press back as it's elastic. However, it is very useful in correcting positions in spins. Outside eagles were also harder as you had to really press down and not back. The new boots, DJ3900 do come in different stiffnesses, so if I got them, I'd probably go with strong. I was looking at the finesse boots as well, but am not sure if they would be supportive enough. The current Jackson dance boot is also a strong, and has 3 hooks, which I'm not sure about either. The synchro boot was pretty comfortable, but it, like the pair I currently have do bother the back of my foot where the elastic meets the leather. I wish there were another dance boot oiption. I love the ability to flex and point the toe.