Marekwica, Bernadeta

Daughter of gajdosz Franciszek Marekwica "Julka" and his wife Marta, née Kukuczka, she lived with her parents and brother Jan in Istebna-Leszczyna; In the 1960s she danced and sang in the regional ensemble of Leszczyna (founded by Anna Zowada (*1928)), in which her father played. She also learned songs and mountaineer’s dances in the ensemble of Józef Broda of Koniaków; Thanks to her father, who taught her to play the Gajdy, it became her passion; According to Zuzanna Kawulok, "she played the Gajdy at "szkubaczki" [➺ NB¹], but never at weddings, because those required playing for a long time and a woman would not have enough strength to do so"; Like Zuzanna, Bernadeta was one of the few women who could play the Gajdy, but having chosen the path of deep faith and eternal devotion to God, she decided to enter a convent; NB¹: "szkubaczki" or "śkubaćki" (Compare "skubać" [to pluck (a fowl, &c.)]) are traditional goose-feather plucking gatherings, during which down/fluff for quilts is made; Originally a girls’ festivity, accompanied by music, the custom is rarely practiced, nowadays [i.e. 2014], and only by women, instead.
NB²: ➺ Survey of female pipers; NB³: ➺ Jan Kawulok "uod Wojtosza", Paweł Ligocki, Jan Urbaczka, and Michał Waszut.