KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Being a stickler for tradition, bharatanatyam master Ajith Bhaskar makes sure that his students strictly adhere to the beats that he meticulously counts while they dance.

Then Shankar asks the players to sing a tala using Indian drum syllables. The young Ravi Shankar travelled to Paris, performing in his older brother’s dance group. During the group’s tours of ...