He began studying classical dance at the Košice Conservatory with the Halász family, later continuing at the Conservatory in Prague, where he graduated from the Dance Department in 1984 (teacher: K. Lukšík).
Since 1984 he has been a member of the Ballet of the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, becoming a soloist in 1990, a principal in 1993–1997 and again from 1999, and a ballet master and répétiteur from 2004. In 1997 and 1998 he danced as a soloist with Laterna Magika in Prague and as a guest soloist with the Ballet of the State Theatre in Košice.
He is a distinctive representative of top-tier classical dance performance, a versatile actor with a wide palette of ballet roles. In 2004 he completed choreography studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (teacher: J. Sabovčík).
His leading roles include Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Hope (A Strange Joy to Live), Franz Kafka (Light in the Dark), Death (Requiem), Paganini (Paganini), Basilio (Don Quixote), Shaman (The Rite of Spring), Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), Dexter (...On Your Graves), Rasputin (Rasputin), Crassus (Spartacus), and Svätojanko (A Little Bug Is Born). He has also danced solo roles in ballets such as Giselle (peasant pas de deux, pas de six), Swan Lake (Jester), The Sleeping Beauty (Carabosse), V as Vivaldi, The Game of Love, Et cetera, Words from the Mouths of Angels, Les Mutants, Magnificat and more. With Laterna Magika he performed title roles in Riddles, Casanova and Odysseus. As a guest soloist with the Ballet of the State Theatre Košice he appeared as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and other productions.
Igor Holováč is also an inventive choreographer. At the Slovak National Theatre he created Diskrepancie to music by Martin Burlas, Quartet for One to music by Ilja Zeljenka, two sections of Oskar Nedbal’s ballet From Fairy Tale to Fairy Tale, Tibor Frešo’s children’s ballet A Little Bug Is Born, and original ballets Caligula (music by Henrich Leško) and Don Juan (music by Mirko Krajči). For the evening Bolero and More he staged When Dying Means Living (Arvo Pärt) and Dialogue Without Guarantee (Astor Piazzolla). His concert piece Four Reasons (Astor Piazzolla) is also part of his choreographic catalogue. In recent years he has collaborated with the SND Drama ensemble, creating choreography for Victor Hugo’s The King Amuses Himself.
His further works include Be Back in a Moment and Personal Slalom Race for Ballet Bratislava; Episodes for the Slovak Chamber Ballet; Prometheus for the Josef Kajetán Tyl Theatre in Plzeň; dance sections for the operas Mefistofeles and Resurrection at the SND Opera; the operetta The Land of Smiles at the Jonáš Záborský Theatre in Prešov; and the musical The Queen Sings the Blues at Divadlo West. He has created many shorter pieces for domestic and international competitions, and choreography for graduating students of the Eva Jaczová Dance Conservatory in Bratislava.
Notable awards for his performance and choreography include 2nd prize for Diskrepancie at the National Choreographic Competition in Bratislava (1988), the Slovak Literary Fund Award for Ballet (1993), a place in the finals of the international choreographic competition in Groningen (1992), and The Philip Morris Flower Award (1998).
