Jo Strømgren not only directs plays, he writes them. The 53-year-old not only serves as resident choreographer for the Norwegian National Ballet, he also runs his own very successful troupe, dedicated exclusively to his work. Through it all he has one ambition—“to pinpoint utterly sad human behavior,” he says. Imagine a kind of Kafka, except he’s Norwegian and a choreographer. This Nordic choreographer is particularly deft at what has defeated many an otherwise masterful dancemaker: telling a story without benefit of words. Premiering this month, The Basement is the second in his company’s series on women’s lives—or, as it happens, deaths and rebirths. While men carouse upstairs and out of sight, the four women in the basement are hijacked by the dead. Long-buried ladies get another lease on life; confusion and comedy ensue. —Apollinaire Scherr